NCJ Number
194370
Journal
The Beacon Volume: 3 Issue: 9 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 1-6
Date Published
June 2001
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This newsletter focuses on public information officers (PIO); the Biological Weapons (BW) Improved Response Program (IRP); the United States Concept of Operations Plan (CONPLAN); NURSELINK; a biological weapons response program workshop; and a law enforcement/medical information sharing workshop.
Abstract
Media operations are frequently delegated as a duty for a senior level leader/administrator in a hospital, as well as fire and police departments. Many police, fire, and emergency medical workers view the press as an enemy and often think of their PIOs as members of the press. Members of the press see themselves as guardians of the public’s right to know information. The press is an entity that must be dealt with, and controlling the information put out during a disaster is preferable to spawning distrust and suspicion. The key to having a workable and rehearsed public information plan to execute as a part of disaster response is a public information team. PIOs have a working knowledge of the press and it is critical for them to be familiar with emergency response operations. Another important aspect of media operations is media awareness training for first responders. The BW IRP is aimed at identifying and demonstrating the best practical approaches to improve BW domestic preparedness using a multi-agency team comprised of emergency responders, emergency managers, technical experts, and policy planners from Federal, State and local agencies from around the country. The CONPLAN is designed to provide overall guidance to Federal, State and local agencies concerning how the Federal Government would respond to a potential or actual terrorist threat or incident, particularly an incident involving weapons of mass destruction. NURSELINK serves the Nation’s nurses by facilitating the sharing of information and resources on the subject of nursing/medical preparedness for biological-chemical disasters resulting from a terrorist act. In conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the BW IRP presented a workshop on analyzing response options for an intentional smallpox outbreak. A law enforcement and medical information sharing workshop was held in January 2000 in an effort to effect coordination and cooperation between the United States Army and the National Domestic Preparedness Office.