Anthrax attacks, bioterrorism threatscreate new demands on medical units
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Anthrax attacks on the government and news media and the scores of copycat bioterrorism threats that followed have created new demands on hospitals, academic health centers, public health officials and emergency services workers. West Virginia University has established the Center for Medical Preparedness to promote bioterrorism training, research and readiness activities in partnership with federal and state government initiatives. Janet Williams, M.D., a WVU emergency physician, will direct the center.
“There are hundreds of people at the Health Sciences Center with skills and valuable resources that can help address the national agenda in responding to the threat of bioterrorism,” Dr. Williams said. “Our central goal will be to make sure that we coordinate and apply these rich resources to the best advantage for all Americans.”
Much of the center’s work will complement efforts of WVU’s Virtual Medical Campus in addressing homeland defense issues.
The center will also conduct research that can assist in bioterrorism preparedness nationwide, with a focus on rural needs.
“One of our first projects, in cooperation with the Washington (D.C.) Medical Center is to look at the implications of bioterrorism on the design of hospital emergency rooms,” Williams said. “Most of the work that has been done on this has been focused on large urban hospitals. But rural hospitals can be on the front lines, too, particularly in the event of a biological attack on crops or livestock. We have to help our community hospitals prepare.”
Other early efforts will include a partnership with the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health to provide training and education on bioterrorism for public health providers, and a federally funded web-based course on hospital emergency management, being developed jointly by the center and the Virtual Medical Campus.