Biopreparedness plans should include hoax response, official says
WASHINGTON-Emergency response plans for biological incidents need to include planning for responding to hoaxes, a Washington-area emergency response official said Tuesday.
Speaking yesterday at a Harvard University's Biosecurity 2003 conference here, Arlington County, Va., Fire Chief Edward Plaugher said that false incidents have the potential to overwhelm emergency response systems. Following the 2001 anthrax attacks in the eastern United States, there were reports throughout the world of anthrax hoaxes, often involving a letter or package containing suspicious white powder.
During his presentation, Plaugher cited the particularly egregious example of Clayton Lee Waagner, who was charged by the U.S. Justice Department last year of having sent more than 550 anthrax hoax letters to abortion providers.
Plaugher said Tuesday that there is a need to include emergency responders in planning to respond to hoaxes, which can have the added benefit of helping to forge links with law enforcement officials that would be useful in responding to a real incident. Such plans should include measures to keep the public from overreacting and to maintain public confidence in the ability of first responders to respond to an actual incident, he said.
As an example of where poor planning by first responders led to decreased public confidence, Plaugher cited a 1997 hoax that occurred at the B'nai B'rith headquarters in Washington. The hoax involved a petri dish labeled anthrax that was sent to the building's mailroom. After responding, emergency response officials tried to make those at the scene undergo decontamination, but many refused to do so because the responders could not adequately explain the potential threat, Plaugher said. The refusal of many law enforcement officials to undergo decontamination led to questions as to who was in charge at the scene, he said.
If hoaxes are not included in emergency response plans, Plaugher said, then "we can really blow this."