Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Emergency Management Council updated on anti-terrorism plans

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 12:13:52 -0500

Emergency Management Council updated on anti-terrorism plans

BRIAN JUSTICE, The Tullahoma News Staff Writer October 21, 2003

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says in the nation's Ready
Campaign that citizens need to be prepared, and the Tennessee Department
of Health maintains it is doing just that.

Ami Smith, the department's bioterrorism emergency response coordinator
for the state's south central region, updated the Tullahoma Emergency
Management/Homeland Security Council last week on what her department is
doing to be prepared for bioterrorism threats.

Ridge has addressed U.S. residents in a nationally televised advertising
campaign with what have become household words.

"Terrorists force us to make a choice," he says. "We can be afraid or we
can be ready. Americans aren't afraid, and we will be ready."

Ms. Smith said the Health Department has taken extra measures to be
prepared for bioterrorism where diseases are spread through biological
or chemical agents against civilians with an objective to cause fear,
illness or death.

Echoing Ridge's statements, she said: "If there's a major bioterrorism
attack, we need to be ready."

Ms. Smith said the Health Department's role focuses on detecting
diseases early and identifying how they are spread. She added that
disease prevention program involves antibiotic distribution,
quarantining when necessary and educating and informing the public about
the circumstances.

Ms. Smith said a strategic antibiotic stockpile is at hand, and up to
50,000 people in the immediate area could be vaccinated against
smallpox.

She said Coffee County could serve as a central location and residents
from neighboring counties could be bussed there to be vaccinated on a
10-day schedule with 5,000 receiving inoculations daily.

In other business, Jack Hennon, an Amateur Radio Emergency Services
member, and Tom Perkins, the Civil Air Patrol Tullahoma Squadron's
deputy for cadets, briefed the council on personal locator beacon usage.

Hennon said radio devices, available to the public for about $300, can
be used to transmit emergency beacons when activated. He added that the
transmitters will work in areas where cell phones may fail and are more
reliable.

Perkins said the Civil Air Patrol focuses on search and rescue
procedures and personal locator beacons can greatly aid in locating
victims and saving their lives.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1614&dept_id=161052&newsid=10386096&PAG=461&rfi=9

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