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Facing Bioterrorism
By Peter Rubino, Director of Continuing Education
It is a sobering reality that no one needs to remind us about the renewed use of force and violence to intimidate and achieve political and social objectives. To our dismay, terrorism has become part of our collective consciousness as the "modus operandi" of fanatics and misguided zealots worldwide.
In today's post 9-11 era, most of us are keenly aware of the potential threat posed by radical groups seeking to wreak havoc on western civilization's interests, using a variety of nasty tools including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons (a.k.a. the "NBC" threat). For the purposes of this article, we shall focus on the "B" of this nefarious triumvirate, the threat posed by production and use of biochemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.
What is the pharmacist's role in preparing for a bioterrorism attack? How much do you as a health professional, know about the current, pro-active, integrated planning, coordination and training needed to mitigate the potentially dire consequences of such an attach on US soil? Are you aware that in certain states such as Illinois, Hospital Emergency Incident Command Systems (HEICS) are now operational?
The use of biological weapons in warfare is not new. In fact, the British used smallpox right here in the US, against the Continental Army as long ago as the eighteenth century during the American Revolutionary War. Due to the fact that biological weapons are relatively easy to produce and less costly that other WMD's, some have even referred to them as the "poor man's" nuclear weapon. Since 1972, no fewer than sixteen major events have occurred where chemical and/or biological weapons such as typhoid, sarin, ricin, botulinum, cyanide and salmonella were the agents of choice.
Still, with all this potential for disaster, the risk of dying of a BT attack is extremely rare. To date, the odds are less than one in 25,000,000 that a US citizen will die in a bioterrorism attack on US soil. Good new, yes, but hopefully not good enough to lull us into a complacent state of denial about the very real and dangerous threat looming in the shadows. Notwithstanding the anthrax attacks which occurred here in 2001, where five people lost their lives to postal delivery of deadly spores, most clinicians still have never seen these symptoms or diseases in practice.
In a CE program called "Facing Bioterrorism", now available online at RxSchool.com, Dr. Kathleen Baldwin, Clinical Associate Professor and Coordinator at University of Illinois College of Nursing and her associates, challenge us with these provocative questions:
- Do you know the difference between Category A, B and C Biological Agents?
- Are you familiar with preventive measures, prophylactic treatment, epidemiology, symptomatology, and treatments for the effects caused by these deadly biological agents?
- What is a "Sentinel Event"?
- Would you be able to identify situations and sympomatology requiring public health consultation and intervention?
- Do you know what and to whom to report diseases and suspected bioterrorism events?
- Are you familiar with the symptoms of Tularemia caused by Franciscella tularensis?
- What about vaccines for these diseases? Are any approved by the FDA for use in the United States?
- And lastly, but most importantly, are you knowledgeable about the precautions and protective equipment needed to prevent personal exposure and infection?
It is time to throw out the old adage "What you don't know can't hurt you" and do something about your own level of preparedness in the event of a wide scale bioterrorism attach - right here at home. You can be forewarned and forearmed by simply logging onto RxSchool.com and enrolling in this totally free, complete CE program entitled "Facing Bioterrorism". The program consists of 5 integrated Modules, each addressing a crucial aspect of bioterrorism preparedness for healthcare professionals and is jointly sponsored by the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy and Nursing, the Illinois Health Education Consortium, the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council and the Southern Illinois University Telehealth
Program. Funding for this comprehensive CE program was provided by a grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
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