Bioterrorism training

received by Fairburn

Special to The Citizen

In today's world, you

have to be ready for anything, whether it's the occasional antacid

to quell the fire from an indigestible dinner or a handy pair of rubber

gloves to open the daily mail in case of a "white powder incident."

- This past Friday, the

Fairburn Police Department was instructed in bioterrorism emergency response

in a one day seminar conducted by Bruce Jeffries of the Georgia Department

of Human Resources and Dr. Cherrie Drenzek of the Georgia Division of

Public Health.

- The

presentation covered two separate, but equally serious scenarios requiring

the force's quick and rational action. Outbreaks such as the recent

SARS virus in Canada and the Hepatitis A incident in North Georgia were

used to illustrate the procedures followed in unintentional circumstances.

In the event of an intentional act of bioterrorism like the anthrax scare

of a few years ago, the picture being created was a much darker one.

- Officers in attendance

were given warning signs,such as clusters of dead birds or animals which

may point to a biological act of terror. Monitoring emergency room illness

trends was another key given for their use.

- In

the case of a chemical spill from a derailed train, the "hot zone,"

as it is called, is comparatively easy to contain, officials said. But,

when there is a saboteur involved sprinkling drops into salad bars around

town from a stolen bottle of salmonella, the fallout can be widespread

and more difficult to pinpoint.

- It takes a lot of scientific

detective work to isolate and track epidemics both intentional and unintentional.

Thankfully, there is a good size team of individuals involved on the local,

state and national levels.

- When

bioterrorism is suspected, such as the anthrax letter received in a politician's

office recently, local law enforcement conducts a "threat assessment"

of the situation. Based on their evaluation, the FBI will be notified

as well as the Public Health Department. Local Hazardous Material personnel

are called to the scene and proceed to isolate the area. Ventilation is

shut off and the source of contamination, in this case the letter, is

triple bagged.

The police transport the bagged

letter to Georgia Public Health Laboratory to be tested. The lab results

are reported