Like every other person for whom the majority of his or her life exists as fading objects in a rear view mirror, I have a tendency to think about the world that has surrounded me during my existence. On the surface, I should have a very hard time thinking fondly about the 1990’s. I spent the first half working in the insurance industry and the second half ensconsed in a slow-motion traffic accident of a first marriage. Yet the one thing that the ’90s had going for it was a brief window of time when the country was seemingly free of a big threat to its existence. From the moment in 1989 when the Berlin Wall was torn down, to September 11, 2001, the United States enjoyed a time when thoughts of the sudden annihilation of a large portion of its population did not hang over every major decision.

The 9/11 attacks had the effect of changing that perception for the balance of my life. I remember having a conversation a few days after the attacks with someone I knew at the time, talking about how best to prepare for similar incidents in the future. I felt that every community should have a disaster plan similar to the air raid wardens of World War II or the nuclear attack drills of the 1950’s, which would integrate public employees and buildings, along with the local health infrastructure, to provide an organized and coordinated response to such incidents.

Instead, we received the “War on Terror”, color-coded paranoia and the Big Brother-esque overreach of the Patriot Act. I stopped being optimistic shortly after that. Perhaps it’s my tendency to watch old post-nuclear science fiction films during my late-night fits of insomnia that informs my decision making, but when I heard the head of the Department of Homeland Security tell me that my best defense against future attacks was plastic and duct tape, I was immediately skeptical about our country’s ability to handle future disasters.

It was with all of this in mind that I read a 44-page report released this week from the OIG entitled Local Public Health Preparedness for Radiological and Nuclear Incidents. The report was commissioned based on the belief of our current national security apparatus that the greatest danger to America is a terrorist attack utilizing a nuclear weapon. To assess planning and coordination in the event of such an incident, the OIG requested information from 40 localities from around the country, representing the largest metropolitan areas in and around cities in 23 states, totalling just over 50% of the total population of the United States. The findings of this report clearly show that preparedness for radiological and nuclear incidents is far behind where it needs to be.

Thirty-six of the 40 surveyed localities have conducted some type of risk assessment for a disaster. Because the OIG report did not specifically name the four localities that did not, I am unable to tell anyone specifically to begin digging holes for your survivalist bunker. Of the 36 that did conduct a risk assessment, 30 specifically identified non-power plant related radiological/nuclear incidents as a threat, with 24 of those determining the specific threat level. Taken as a whole, this means that there are 16 major population centers in the country that have not fully determined the risk of a nuclear attack in their area. Only four of the 40 localities have identified radiological incidents as a high-priority threat, but only one had a specific plan in place to respond to such an incident.

The OIG assessed the preparedness of each locality in five areas of responsibility in public health: Monitoring of the population for exposure, decontamination, planning for laboratory analysis, fatality management and communications. Only 21 of the forty had any sort of public health plan in place in case of a nuclear incident that encompassed any one of these areas, but only two localities had plans that included all five. Perhaps the scariest thing to me was that only 8 major population centers in the United States have fatality management plans to limit the amount of exposure to the surviving population emanating from those that will have already perished in such an attack. Knowing this bit of information suddenly reminds me that thoughts of a zombie apocalypse are not as rib-tickling as they were prior to the release of this report.  

When the issue of greater coordination with federal, state and local partners was assessed, only 16 localities have plans that coordinate with any one federal department, with 10 coordinating with their state agencies and 14 coordinating with local entities such as hospitals, county health departments or other emergency medical personnel.

Taking all of this information into account, I have determined that the community health plan for most population centers in the event of a nuclear event consists of three steps: hoping for survival, fitting your vehicle with a plow attachment to move the bodies out of the street, and concluding with more hope for survival. I know it’s hard to see my face in that this is written material, but it is important for you to know that I didn’t crack a smile when I wrote that last sentence.

Chances are fairly good that when you drive home tonight, you’ll pass an older public building with a faded sign that says “Fallout Shelter” on it. There was a time in America, corresponding to the existence of a country known as West Germany, when that sign was brand new, painted a bright yellow, with everyone in the community having acute awareness of what it meant. Perhaps you’re even old enough to remember a “duck-and-cover” drill, the CONELRAD system, the letters ”CD” standing for “Civil Defense” rather than “Compact Disc” or some other quaint custom that kept the idea of the dangers of radiation exposure in the forefront of your mind.

Since this is a health care forum, I ask the reader to save a thought for how they believe their local health infrastructure would respond to such an attack. We find ourselves in an era of consolidation of health care resources under the ACO model that is designed mainly to reduce cost. While IT initiatives have mentioned such things as better coordination of care and improved public health reporting, all of these good intentions will crumble during a cataclysmic event without a disaster plan in place in the communities surrounding the hospitals. The OIG report shows that many areas don’t  have one that is adequate. Additionally, if the recent breakup of the band REM didn’t already drive the point home for some of you, know that the relatively tranquil and naive days of the 1990’s are an increasingly distant memory on the roadways of our lives.

Paul Spencer will be a presenter at the Fi-Med RAC Summit in Milwaukee, WI on April 16th and 17th, 2012. Go to the Summit website for further information on this unique educational opportunity. Use promo code “SPENCER” to receive $50 off the registration price for a limited time.

Tags: 1990's / 9/11 / ACO / Berlin Wall / CONELRAD / Disaster Preparedness / Fallout Shelter / IT / Nuclear / OIG / Patriot Act / REM / War on Terror / West Germany
11:39 am, January 27th, 2012 |