Homeland Security to be lead in flu crisis

Role playing the pandemic
Federal officials have been role playing different flu outbreak scenarios for the past several months and the results have lead to revisions in the current plan, which was drafted last year.

Last year’s plan called for closing of schools, restricting travel and implementing textbook, lock-down quarantine measures.  Those extreme measures jumped into the spotlight last week when President Bush suggested that federal military troops — not just the National Guard — may have to be called in to enforce a quarantine. 

DHS officials privately acknowledge that any such forced quarantine could swiftly turn violent, with people rioting to get away from a perceived diseased area. 

“If you quarantine it’s going to get ugly really quick, I’m afraid,” said a DHS official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he was not authorized to talk about internal planning discussions.

It’s just that potential for chaos that has the administration examining the steps needed to allow the President to put federal troops in charge of the situation. 

“These are all issues that we need to look at, and that's why [President Bush] thinks there needs to be a robust discussion with Congress and do we need to establish some sort of trigger that would automatically say the federal government, and specifically, the military, is the one that will be in charge of stabilizing the situation,” said White House Spokesman Scott McClellan during a Sept. 26^th press conference.  “And then the Department of Homeland Security would come back into play once the situation is stabilized,” McClellan said.

Some medical experts aren’t sold on the military’s hinted role in a pandemic.  “One of the issues is that the current influenza pandemic plan is supposed to carry a large military role, the problem there is I’m not sure how much the military has, at this point, been involved with [dealing with pandemics],” said Dr. Stephen Morris, an epidemiologist, the National Center for Disaster Preparedness and founder of the Center for Public Health Preparedness.

Morris, however, isn’t bothered by the dual responsibility roles laid out by DHS and HHS officials. “So the reality is, once [the Federal government] kicks into action I think, yes, there are obviously roles for both of those agencies,” Morris said.  “HHS does have the lead in the medical aspect…There are obviously a lot of non-medical things that will have to be done in terms of traffic control, logistics and I’m sure there will be a role for the Department of Homeland Security, so I agree it’s not mutually exclusive.”

Who’s on first?
It’s one thing to put down on paper how an agency will respond in case a pandemic hits; it’s a whole other matter to draft a plan detailing what agency will literally keep the trains running, the mail flowing and lights turned on. 

The worst case mortality figures contained in the government’s current draft plan for dealing with a pandemic are 1.9 million fatalities, according an expert who has reviewed the plans.  The best case scenario is 200,000 dead.

“How do you provide food, water ... basic security for the population?” asked Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, a government adviser who has a copy of the draft plan and described it for The Associated Press.

The plan makes it clear that the U.S. is woefully unprepared should a pandemic hit.  All kinds of shortages are noted, everything from not enough vaccines to the seemingly mundane: special surgical masks to prevent infection. 

Democrats have criticized the administration for not having a plan. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, said in a statement Saturday that time for action was short.

“Having a plan on paper does nothing to protect us,” Harkin said while urging the administration to work with Congress on implementing protections against a pandemic. “Next month is too late. The United States is woefully unprepared for this, and we must get started immediately.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

MORE FROM SECURITY

Security Section Front

Investigators: Fort Hood suspect acted alone Profile of Fort Hood suspect emerges Cheney blasts probe of CIA interrogations Men held after 9/11 get $1.26 million Appeals court: Detained Canadian cannot sue the US Agencies: Glitch with foreign SS numbers is fixed Security Section Front   Add Security headlines to your news reader: