Sources of bioterrorism information among emergency physicians during the 2001 anthrax outbreak
| Autor: | Michael P. Allswede, James T. Rankin, Brian Southwell, Nkuchia M. M'ikanatha, Allen R. Kunselman, Ebbing Lautenbach, Robert C. Aber, Kathleen G. Julian |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2004 |
| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_specialty
Health (social science) Poison control Disclosure Management Monitoring Policy and Law Suicide prevention Occupational safety and health Disease Outbreaks Anthrax Physicians Surveys and Questionnaires Injury prevention Medicine Humans Information exchange business.industry Public health Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Human factors and ergonomics General Medicine Electronic media medicine.disease Bioterrorism United States Medical emergency business Emergency Service Hospital Smallpox |
| Zdroj: | Biosecurity and bioterrorism : biodefense strategy, practice, and science. 1(4) |
| ISSN: | 1538-7135 |
| Popis: | ONGOING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN public health officials and clinicians facilitates recognition of and response to emerging infections and deliberate attacks with biological agents.1 However, little is known about sources of bioterrorism information used by frontline responders, particularly emergency physicians. During the 2001 anthrax attacks, official bioterrorism updates were communicated through Health Alert Networks, the Epidemic Information Exchange (Epi-X), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).2–4 Additional information was shared through MMWR reprints in medical journals and through the websites of medical associations, the CDC, and state and local health departments.5 To allow rapid dissemination of Health Alerts to key partners, state health departments started to use media such as e-mail and broadcast fax to strengthen links with hospitals, clinicians, and laboratories. In Pennsylvania, the development of a Health Alert Network had started in summer 2001 with the creation of an electronic database of e-mail addresses and fax numbers of hospital directors, emergency physician directors, and professional medical societies. The first Pennsylvania Health Alert was disseminated on September 11, 2001, shortly after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.6 The frequency of Health Alerts remained low until after the CDC announced an investigation of the index case of the 2001 bioterrorismrelated anthrax outbreak.7–8 During October and November, 21 alerts about bioterrorism were sent through the Pennsylvania Health Alert Network. These alerts primarily shared information derived from Epi-X, the eight MMWR updates released during the same period,4 and announcements of the CDC’s four satellite broadcasts targeted to clinicians.9 Health Alerts were sent to more than 300 fax machines and approximately 200 e-mail addresses in the Health Alert Network contact database. Public health communication during the 2001 anthrax attacks relied heavily on Health Alert Networks and other newly developed channels such as websites. However, it was unclear whether clinicians received official public health information disseminated through these newly developed electronic media and other sources. Specifically, we sought to determine whether physicians had been exposed to official Health Alerts and MMWR updates. We also wanted to assess physician-initiated contacts with public health agencies and physicians’ knowledge about bioterrorism. We report here results from a study conducted among Pennsylvania emergency physicians during the 2001 bioterrorism attacks. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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