Bioterrorism preparedness. II: The community and emergency medical services systems.

Disaster planning is an arduous task. Perhaps no form of disaster is more difficult to prepare for than one resulting from the intentional, covert release of a biological pathogen or toxin. The complexities of response operations and the perils of inadequate preparation cannot be overemphasized. Even with detailed planning, deviations from anticipated emergency operations plans are likely to occur. Several federal programs have been initiated to assist communities in enhancing their preparedness for events involving biological and other agents of mass destruction. Many of these, such as the Metropolitan Medical Response Systems (MMRS) Program [37,38], will be discussed elsewhere. Community preparedness will be enhanced by: 1. Implementing a real-time public health disease surveillance program linking local healthcare, emergency care, EMS, the CDC, local law enforcement, and the FBI 2. Improved real-time regional patient and healthcare capacity status management 3. Development of affordable, accurate biological agent detection systems 4. Incorporation of standardized education and training curricula (appropriate for audience) on terrorism and biological agents into healthcare training programs 5. Expansion of federal and state programs to assist communities in system development 6. Increased public awareness and education programs.

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