Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 1, No. 4 | Preventing “Dark Winter”— The Public Health System’s Role in Strengthening National Security, page 8

Speaking to science writers about public health unpreparedness, Jerome Hauer, New York City's former OEM director, stressed that the media's role in a bioterrorism incident would be critical, either by disseminating information that would help to allay anxiety or by contributing to public panic. Therefore, any response to bioterrorism must include a plan for dealing with the media. Some authority must tell the public what's going on, rapidly providing accurate information through credible spokespeople. (Many attribute the lack of widespread panic in New York City on September 11th to how quickly and effectively then-mayor Rudolph Guiliani used television broadcasts to keep the citizenry informed.) In the Ataxia report, Smithson and Levy point out that news crews monitor emergency broadcast frequencies and sometimes get to an incident before emergency response squads. Continuous live broadcasts of the Oklahoma City bombing began twelve minutes after the event; coverage of the World Trade Center attack was equally immediate.

Like doctors in the era of managed care, journalists are under more pressure than ever in a 24-hour news cycle, and are working for huge conglomerates that are downsizing staff to increase profits. Furthermore, the Internet is unregulated. Anyone can post information, without the traditional checks of seasoned reporters and editors.

And journalists now complain that getting a response from CDC is far more difficult-and slower-these days than it has ever been before. Imagine a reporter trying to convey accurate information within minutes or hours to people who fear they are under biological attack, and failing to get a response from government officials, scientists, doctors, hospitals, medical centers-what then often happens is that journalists end up calling anyone and everyone they can think of. Smithson says she was surprised, during the anthrax scare, that reporters seeking a quote from her didn't question her credentials. Maybe they already knew her background or had looked up the Stimson Center's web site-or maybe they were just desperately calling any possible source in their Rolodex.

At CDC, Dr. Geberding is well aware of the problem of providing credible information and says the agency is working with professional organizations to identify appropriate spokespeople who can provide the public with accurate facts and assessments.

Lessons from a Dark Winter

On its web site, the newly formed U.S. Office of Homeland Security has posted the declaration that, "The mission of the Office will be to develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks." Clearly-and quickly-the U.S. has recognized that terrorism is a national security issue requiring the attention and dedication of the nation's best resources.

But who can predict the nature of the terrorist threat-or, more likely, threats-that we should be attempting to secure the nation against? Before September 11th, to most Americans, the concept of terrorism probably conjured up the image of a bombing-perhaps a device delivered in a truck or strapped to the body of an individual intent on carrying out a suicide attack. But that sunny September morning, terrorism took on a new and horrific shape: death delivered by 800,000 pound airplanes slamming into buildings full of people at work in New York City and Washington, D.C. Just one month later, terrorism metamorphosized into yet another form: tiny powdery bits of anthrax delivered through the mail that heralded a new and frightening threat to the nation and its stability.

By sickening or killing large numbers of people, straining the healthcare system's ability to treat them and incapacitating countless others because of fear of contamination, a major bioterrorism attack on the U.S. could hobble the workforce, cripple the economy, limit the government's effectiveness and tear perhaps irreparable holes in the fabric of national life. Across the country, there is consensus that we cannot let this happen. Much is being done to ensure that it never does, and our ability to respond increases every day.

But much more work lies ahead. In the words of Sam Nunn, who played the role of the president presiding over the Dark Winter exercise: "Enemies don't attack you where you're strong; they will attack us where they believe we are vulnerable. Today, we are vulnerable to a biological weapons attack. And it is crucial that we prepare with all possible speed because if an attack comes, and succeeds, there will be others. Preparing is deterring."

Janice Hopkins Tanne, an award-winning medical writer, co-authored the new book, Timebomb: The Global Epidemic of Multi-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (McGraw Hill, 2002) with Dr. Lee B. Reichman. Her articles have appeared in the British Medical Journal, Parade, Columbia Journalism Review, and New York magazine, among other publications.

Radio-Television News Directors Association and Foundation: "The Journalist's Guide to Bioterrorism"

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