Terrorism Preparedness Costs

Originally posted at Right Truth

Terrorism preparedness isn't cheep. It takes loads of money, lots of people, and practice. Securing our country isn't just the job of Homeland Security. Every agency, business, community and individual in the United States must do their part. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gives states about $1 billion a year to prepare for a bioterrorism attack or other health disaster by improving their laboratories, hiring staff and buying critical equipment. The problem is states are not using the money.

... according to a report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. More than $157 million —- nearly 16 percent of the amount awarded —- wasn't used during the program year ending Aug. 30, 2005, ... The health department upgrades funded by the CDC program are considered crucial to the nation's security, ... CDC has awarded about $4 billion to health departments, most of it since 2002 ...

If we are not using the money, American citizens need to know how much their state has been allocated, why some of those funds are not being used, and how they can best use funds available to them. 'To read the inspector general's report, which includes details on each health department's unspent balances, for 2004 and 2005, go to: oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/region5/50500031.pdf'

John D. Negroponte, says the "complex and demanding" process of restructuring the U.S. intelligence community is still "a work in progress" after 22 months of effort. State and local efforts in terrorism preparedness are also a 'work in progress', but some communities are doing a much better job than others. What about your community? Do you have any idea what your state, county, or city are doing? Maybe you need to find out.

The CDC has granted a $135 Million dollar contract to Lockheed Martin to support terrorism preparedness and emergency response, as part of CDC's Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (COTPER). That's not chicken feed. What do Americans get for that paycheck?

COTPER manages the CDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement which provides guidance and funding to state and local jurisdictions to enhance their preparedness and response capacity, oversees the CDC Emergency Operations Center, regulates entities that use or transfer biological agents or toxins, and manages the Strategic National Stockpile.

Lockheed Martin support to COTPER will include business consulting and the performance of technical, professional, logistical, engineering and administrative tasks. By applying continuous process improvement, the company will work to implement automated functions and processes where possible throughout the agency. (source)

It appears that any lack of preparedness cannot be blamed on lack of money. So if your state or community is not prepared, the problem could be lack of experience. Yes, many times we learn from doing. Conducting statewide terrorism preparedness exercises is an absolute necessity.

South Dakota recently conducted just such an exercise:

During this exercise they tested in real-time the complex communications necessary in a disaster and learned that a streamlined analysis process is critical when receiving information. They also learned that successful preparedness means having an adequately staffed, equipped and dedicated Emergency Operations Center at the hospital, local, regional and state level. ...

More than 300 individuals from 64 of South Dakota's 67 hospitals participated in the exercise in which fictitious concert-goers exposed to plague began jamming hospital emergency rooms approximately 48 hours after exposure.

"The beauty of this exercise was that it comprehensively tested every possible situation that would arise in this type of emergency," (source)

South Dakota worked with Global Secure Corp., who are experts in medical and public health exercises, and 'have the experience in conducting exercises involving hospitals and public health entities.'

The cost of terrorism preparedness is huge, but money isn't enough. Individuals need to be prepared, communities need to be prepared. What would your state, county, city, local community do in case of an attack, whether it be nuclear, chemical, biological, or other? What would YOU do? Do you have a plan for yourself and your family? Don't wait until it's too late.