Ebola Preparedness Abysmal, States Physicians for Civil Defense

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Federal officials claim that the U.S. is well-prepared for public-health threats such as Ebola, but the reverse is true, and the reason is not lack of funding, states Physicians for Civil Defense.

"Thanks to spending since 9/11, public-health resources and expertise have never been better," writes former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson in the Wall Street Journal on Oct 24. "We are light years ahead of where we were 15 years ago."

In fact, in preparing for bioterrorism or emerging epidemics we have fallen far behind. "We've wasted 120 billion dollars over the last 20 years," states Steven Hatfill, M.D., in an interview with James Hamblin of The Atlantic. We have "nothing to show for it. We can't even handle one patient with Ebola."

Dr. Hatfill is an expert in tropical and emergency medicine, and is a director of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness.

Recognizing the dangers and uncertainties associated with Ebola, which is a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) virus, a previous generation of physicians and scientists established a special U.S. Army military team designed to aeromedically transport Ebola-infected patients to a specialized BSL-4 medical treatment facility in the United States, Dr. Hatfill writes.

Created in 1978, the Aeromedical Isolation and Special Medical Augmentation Response Team (AIT-SMART) had worldwide airlift capability to bring patients directly into the BSL-4 medical care suite without exposing them to the environment. This facility had several suites of BSL-4 laboratories staffed by highly experienced researchers in exotic diseases, as well as intensive care physicians and nurses from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center who were well practiced in providing clinical care under BSL-4 conditions.

In 2010, the AIT-SMART was decommissioned, and the capability was lost. Clinical management is degraded to BSL-3, and there are only four units, with few beds, in the U.S.

The state of pandemic preparedness in general is poor. At a recent House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., stated: "We spent millions of dollars for a pandemic.... We don't know the inventory, we don't know who's got it, and we don't know who's gonna get it."

Department of Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth agreed. He expressed concern that DHS may not be able to provide pandemic preparedness supplies to crucial personnel necessary to continue operations. By failing to implement controls to monitor its stockpiles, DHS cannot be certain whether it has too little, too much, or ineffective supplies.

Physicians for Civil Defense advocates better preparedness for disasters, including natural epidemics and biological warfare.

Contact: Jane M. Orient, M.D., (520) 323-3110, [email protected]

SOURCE Physicians for Civil Defense

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http://www.physiciansforcivildefense.org/