מתוך medicontext.co.il
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Reuters Health) – "We will be judged by what we do from today to the future," Dr. Michael Osterholm said in his opening remarks at a conference on Understanding Bioterrorism held here December 13.
The comments by Dr. Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a nationally recognized expert on bioterrorism, highlight the importance of educating health professionals on the need to recognize, treat, and report persons exposed to biologic and chemical agents during this time of heightened alert.
The recent anthrax scare was just a "tragic dry run," according to Dr. Osterholm, who has been meeting with federal officials to help anticipate "how the next shoe may drop." To address this issue, several physicians spoke on the pathogenesis of biologic (anthrax, smallpox, plague, and tularemia) and chemical weapons and on ways to clinically diagnose and treat people exposed to these agents.
Dr. Richard Danila, assistant epidemiologist in Minnesota's Department of Health, reported that the state is working on implementing the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile program, a two-tiered response set up by the federal government to maintain a national repository of pharmaceuticals and to deliver them when and where necessary.
The first tier is a 12-hour push package of pharmaceuticals, along with IV and airway supplies, that can be deployed to reach a designated airfield within 12 hours. If more supplies are needed, a second response of vendor-managed inventory packages can be shipped to arrive within 24 to 36 hours.
Dr. Danila said that one problem with these packages is the inability to quickly select which supply is needed for a particular crisis because all supplies are shipped together in bulk amounts. The Minnesota Department of Health is working to break the push packages into smaller units to make them more accessible for the particular need at hand.
Finally, the department of health is working with hospitals around Minnesota to help them plan and coordinate their internal strategies for dealing with a bioterrorist attack. Identifying leadership, planning triage of patients and supplies, and developing protocols were among the key issues discussed.
A theme of the conference was the need for all health professionals to think in new ways, be prepared, and, according to Dr. Osterholm, to "challenge our dogmas" about biologic and chemical agents.
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