Abstract
After public notification of confirmed cases of bioterrorism-related anthrax, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emergency Operations Center responded to 11,063 bioterrorism-related telephone calls from October 8 to November 11, 2001. Most calls were inquiries from the public about anthrax vaccines (58.4%), requests for general information on bioterrorism prevention (14.8%), and use of personal protective equipment (12.0%); 882 telephone calls (8.0%) were referred to the state liaison team for follow-up investigation. Of these, 226 (25.6%) included reports of either illness clinically confirmed to be compatible with anthrax or direct exposure to an environment known to be contaminated with Bacillus anthracis. The remaining 656 (74.4%) included no confirmed illness but reported exposures to “suspicious” packages or substances or the receipt of mail through a contaminated facility. Emergency response staff must handle high call volumes following suspected or actual bioterrorist attacks. Standardized health communication protocols that address contact with unknown substances, handling of suspicious mail, and clinical evaluation of suspected cases would allow more efficient follow-up investigations of clinically compatible cases in high-risk groups.
Highlights
After public notification of confirmed cases of bioterrorism-related anthrax, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emergency Operations Center responded to 11,063 bioterrorism-related telephone calls from October 8 to November 11, 2001
After the first indication of a case of bioterrorism-related anthrax in Florida in October [1,2,3,4], the volume of calls to the emergency operations centers from the general public and health departments increased dramatically. In response to this increased demand, the preestablished centers were combined into an agencywide Emergency Operations Center (EOC), specialized teams were established to focus on specific local investigations, and staff was supplemented with additional personnel and resources
The State Liaison Team (SLT), which was established as a component of the second tier of this system, was formed to respond to calls from persons reporting illnesses and exposures possibly related to bioterrorism
Summary
After public notification of confirmed cases of bioterrorism-related anthrax, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emergency Operations Center responded to 11,063 bioterrorism-related telephone calls from October 8 to November 11, 2001. After the first indication of a case of bioterrorism-related anthrax in Florida in October [1,2,3,4], the volume of calls to the emergency operations centers from the general public and health departments increased dramatically. In response to this increased demand, the preestablished centers were combined into an agencywide Emergency Operations Center (EOC), specialized teams were established to focus on specific local investigations, and staff was supplemented with additional personnel and resources. We use the call data to highlight some implications for staffing strategies and to recommend changes in the EOC triage protocol that may allow second-tier referral teams to focus more exclusively on high-risk case investigations
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