|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Report Questions Calif. Bioterrorism Preparedness
Officials and health professionals in California are concerned that the state is not prepared to handle a public health crisis caused by bioterrorism due to organizational problems, lack of staff and budget cuts, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today (see GSN, Aug. 10). These concerns come as a state auditor released a report yesterday that found California’s plans for combating disease outbreaks and acts of terrorism have not been updated for years. The state’s Disaster Medical Response Plan was last updated in 1992, while the Medical Mutual Aid Plan was issued in 1974. California’s Emergency Medical Services Authority said it would update the plans by September 2006, according to the Chronicle. The audit also found that California’s Health Services Department has been slow to spend $88 million earmarked for hospitals to improve bioterror preparedness. Auditors attributed the slow spending to a hiring freeze that was lifted in June 2004. The Health Services Department said the auditor’s report does not accurately reflect state preparedness. The department claims it has met 62 of 64 federal conditions for disease control. “California is better prepared today than ever before to respond to a bioterrorism act,” said department spokesman Ken August (Greg Lucas, San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 12).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
