Task force prepares city for response to terrorism

Task force prepares city for response to terrorism
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BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News Staff

“In the wake of the terrorist attacks in our country on Sept. 11, our society and government — at every level — are seized with the urgent task of enhancing our individual and collective defense against terrorism,” Edward Djerejian told journalists at an Oct. 3 news briefing at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Djerejian, director of the Baker Institute, presented an overview of the steps that have been taken by the Houston Task Force on Terrorism to prepare the city to respond to terrorist threats and acts.

Two years ago Houston Mayor Lee Brown asked the Baker Institute to assess the City of Houston’s response mechanisms in the event of a terrorist attack. Djerejian explained that the Baker Institute reviewed the likely chronological response to a terrorist incident, from the first report of an event, to the first response and then to the request by the city for state and federal resources. The assessment then focused on the government/public/private response, particularly in the areas of medicine, hazardous materials and law, and on plans to educate the public and community leaders.

“For the best response to an incident, the responders, both governmental and non-governmental, must be trained, have adequate equipment and supplies, and regularly use their training in their daily work or regular exercises,” Djerejian said. The task force is now trying to identify the resources and funding that will be required for a thorough and coordinated response within the city, as well as the support Houston can expect from state and federal agencies.

Brown noted that the city has accelerated its efforts to actively plan and prepare for any possible incident involving terrorism. Because a multifaceted response is needed, the Houston Task Force on Terrorism has evolved into a collaboration of local, county, state and federal agencies, the City of Houston, the medical community, including the Houston Medical Strike Team and the Harris County Hospital District, and the Baker Institute.

As evidence of “a truly collaborative effort,” Brown cited the involvement of County Judge Robert Eckels and Dr. Ralph Feigin, president and chief executive officer of Baylor College of Medicine and medical liaison for the Houston Medical Strike Force.

Eckels noted that Harris County would respond to a terrorist attack in the same way it would to a major chemical incident or plant explosion. The county has been working through the Gulf Coast Emergency Management Association to review oil-safety issues and chemical plants.

“We learned some lessons from Tropical Storm Allison about the ability of our community to respond to an event that has a major impact on our trauma centers,” Eckels said. Because flooding hindered access to the Texas Medical Center, the emergency plan must address how to better deliver health-care services on a broad scale during a crisis, whether it is terrorist-related or a natural disaster, he said.

Feigin noted that even the most conservative of experts have been reassessing the plausibility of a major biological or chemical attack somewhere in the United States.

Although Houston is probably better prepared than most major cities for such an event because of its experience in responding to refinery explosions and hurricanes, no one can ever really be sufficiently prepared for a chemical or biological attack to the extent that they would like to be, Feigin said.

Because symptoms related to a biological attack might not show up until a few days after exposure, all physicians and health-care workers must be trained to consider diseases such as anthrax and botulism as possibilities and report them to the health department immediately, Feigin said. “Physicians and health-care workers must become familiar as well with the appropriate diagnostic tests to establish diagnosis rapidly and the most effective treatment methods.”

Feigin announced the members of the medical advisory steering committee of the Houston Medical Strike Team and noted that Houston is fortunate to have many specialists with expertise in treating patients who have been exposed to hazardous chemicals, radioactive materials, biological agents and infectious diseases.

He emphasized the need to educate the lay public about the realistic assessment of risk. “You can’t confront terrorist events with panic or fear. You have to confront them with education and training,” Feigin said.