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Homeland Security Department Review Warned of Inadequate Planning for WMD Attack
The United States is unprepared to implement an appropriate medical response to a large-scale disaster with mass casualties, according to an internal Homeland Security Department review completed in January (see GSN, Sept. 7). “The nation’s medical leadership works in isolation, its medical response capability is fragmented and ill-prepared to deal with a mass casualty event and ... DHS lacks an adequate medical support capability for its field operating units,” says the report. The report, “Medical Readiness Responsibilities and Capabilities: A Strategy for Realigning and Strengthening the Federal Medical Response,” warns that there has been insufficient planning for a surge of patients from a disaster like a biological or nuclear attack, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The document calls for formation of a uniformed medical reserve corps modeled on the National Guard, according to AP. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was reorganizing his agency in response to the report when hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit, agency officials said. Chertoff created the position of chief medical officer to spearhead preparedness, they added. “I thought it (the report) was a great place to start,” said Jeffrey Runge, the new chief medical officer. However, the report’s author, surgeon Jeffrey Lowell, said the agency has not made adequate changes. Lowell added that the current system of volunteer medical teams was “pretty much shot” when called upon to respond to more than one disaster at a time (Cheryl Wittenauer, Associated Press/SuburbanChicagoNews.com, Sept. 26).
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