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United States: Umatilla Depot Lacks Emergency Necessities, CDC Says The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found a significant lack of communication among emergency responders in the area around the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon, the Associated Press reported Monday (see GSN, April 3). Lack of communication between fire, police and depot officials and hospital personnel is a “significant problem,” the officials said. “The information we get is not adequate. Hospitals are repeatedly left out of the loop,” said Ken Franz, manager of emergency services at an area hospital. In a mock emergency in January, the emergency management team did not call Franz until an hour and a half after a mock explosion at the depot, he said. Unclear Coordination Communication between Oregon and Washington health officials is also unclear, CDC evaluators said. That is a problem because patients might require transportation to nearby Washington hospitals, and other residents would also probably flee across the state line, according to the CDC. Washington health officials are very willing to work with Oregon authorities to care for patients in the event of a chemical accident, said Mark Clemens, spokesman for Washington’s Emergency Management Division. Emergency planners, however, have never had a “focused discussion” about the need to move patients across the state line, he said. “We’re ready to help out,” Clemens said, but added, “Oregon and Washington both have felt like they could take care of their own patients.” Bad Antidote? Another problem the CDC noted is an antidote for sarin gas stored at Umatilla that has passed its expiration date by 12 years, the AP reported. The U.S. Army provided the antidote, called atrophine, to the Good Shepherd Medical Center near the depot and has said the atrophine is still usable. An Army letter to the CDC said the antidote “is tested annually by the manufacturer, and the stability test date is evaluated by the (U.S. Food and Drug Administration).” The CDC, however, expressed skepticism. Expiration dates exist because medicine’s potency decreases with time, said CDC spokeswoman Susan McClure. “We would not recommend using expired medicine in any case,” said McClure. “I just don’t know why the Army doesn’t replace this. It’s so cheap,” said Franz. The antidote costs $3 or $4 per vial, according to the AP. Army Report Overdue Meanwhile, the state of Oregon last week said the Army had missed a March 25 deadline for conducting an independent engineering study of the depot’s incinerator, where the Army plans to conduct a test burn on May 25. Rick Kelley, a spokesman for the Washington Demilitarization Co., which built the incinerator, said the company was not aware any deadlines had been missed. The Army plans to burn nontoxic material in the test before beginning the incineration of 4,000 tons of nerve gas and mustard agent next February (Associated Press/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 8).
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