CONTACT: Dr. Rusty Russell, Director, Virtual Medical Campus304-293-5998
WVU program centers on medical preparedness for terrorist attacks
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - A new program at West Virginia University is designed to prepare doctors and emergency personnel to respond to terrorist attacks on American soil.
The Virtual Medical Campus is a computer network and information system that will link doctors and emergency personnel responding to a terrorist attack with specialists who can immediately identify what steps should be taken to protect people living and working nearby.
The Virtual Medical Campus is the computer network and national information delivery arm of the National Training Center for Homeland Security (NTC-HLS) being developed collaboratively by WVU and the West Virginia National Guard.
"The work we are doing is in the public health/public safety area of medical preparedness for the consequences of disasters," Virtual Medical Campus Director Dr. Rusty Russell said. "We are focusing primarily on the medical aspects of response and the knowledge and training that these responders need to have to be able to respond and work together effectively."
On Sept. 13, the U.S. Senate approved $2 million for the Virtual Medical Campus as part of a counterterrorism bill. The measure is now in a House-Senate conference committee.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W. Va., noted that police, fire and rescue workers rapidly responded to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon after the Sept. 11 attacks by terrorists using airliners for suicidal dives. "They are trained and equipped for the type of damage that resulted. But they don't have the expertise on hand for chemical or biological weapon attacks," Byrd said.
"They would need the expertise of doctors and scientists who can analyze the weapon and suggest the best possible response. This is the goal of the Virtual Medical Campus," Byrd said.
Once it's operational, perhaps within the next six to 12 months, the Virtual Medical Campus will focus on several national capabilities, Russell said. In addition to improving emergency preparedness among the medical community, the Virtual Medical Campus will also facilitate "medical community participation in federal, state and local planning and decision- making, as related to terrorist or similar events," he said.
In November 1999, the WVU Medical Campus proposed to the Office of Justice Programs the development of this type of national information delivery system, Russell said. The Office of Justice Programs subsequently funded a study to define key components of the proposed program, he said. "In the course of the study, WVU formed a partnership with the West Virginia National Guard to develop the National Training Center for Homeland Security Destruction," he said.
Two factors led to the agreement, Russell said. "There was a recognition of the need for online training and knowledge management systems for first responders, as well as training and support requiring a complementary physical facility," he said.
As a result, the Virtual Medical Campus will provide the "information infrastructure and knowledge management systems," Russell said. The state National Guard will be in charge of physical training facilities in the form of specialized training ranges, advanced classrooms and housing for training exercises.
The chain of events Sept. 11 point out the need for a nationally coordinated response system, he said.
"I think one of the big lessons that we've learned is that we do need to be better prepared, especially since there's always the risk that something like this will happen again," Russell said.
###
RSS