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abilities of governments to evacuate or isolate all or part of that region in case of emergency
<br />and that identified some available resources within the region.
<br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that it was interesting that yesterday they were
<br />issuing potassium iodine pills to the children in schools in Wake County. This was one of the
<br />issues brought up at the forum regarding possible problems at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant.
<br />Chair Brown said that she considers this a very important report. She would like
<br />to send it to other governments in the region for their information.
<br />EMS Director Nick Waters said that they came to the Board in January 2000 to
<br />ask to receive a grant to allow them to do this study because concerns were raised about
<br />planning for evacuations or isolations.
<br />EMS Deputy Director Kent McKenzie gave the PowerPoint presentation, which is
<br />incorporated by reference. This study was a joint project with Guilford, Chatham, Durham,
<br />Wake, Alamance, and Johnston Counties. The purpose of the study was to provide
<br />recommendations for addressing terrorism, identify a comprehensive management strategy for
<br />dealing with mass casualty situations, and to provide an analysis of terrorist targets and threats.
<br />He summarized the weapon types and attack scenarios including
<br />nuclearlradiological, biological, chemical, explosive, and others (agriterrorism, ecoterrorism, and
<br />cyberterrorism). Potential targets of terrorist acts include airports, government buildings, sports
<br />arenas, schools and universities, shopping centers, hospitals, 911 centers, railways,
<br />laboratories, and public utilities.
<br />The study identified 3,776 licensed hospital beds in the region. Not all of these
<br />beds are available at any given time. There are 4,829 licensed physicians in the study region,
<br />although not all of these have had any training in emergency or disaster medicine. The total
<br />regional population was considered and there are na existing regional evacuation plans ar
<br />routes, no identified reception areas, and based on DOT flow formulas, immediate evacuation is
<br />not possible. The evacuation time for the region is five to six days. Also, immediate city-wide or
<br />a larger quarantine may be impossible because of too many control points, too many non-
<br />system access routes, and too few officers available.
<br />In conclusion, the study indicated that our region is at risk for all types of
<br />terrorism, there might not be enough hospital beds to handle the number of casualties,
<br />evacuation might take a week or more, only a limited quarantine is passible, and there is
<br />inadequate communication and very limited interoperability at the regional response level.
<br />The recommendations include increased statewide public education, policies to
<br />protect critical infrastructure, emphasis on shelter-in-place education and policies, develop or
<br />improve medication distribution and mass vaccination policies, public health tracking system,
<br />explore private sector Hazmat responselcleanup, increase decontamination capabilities, provide
<br />Weapons of Mass Destruction (V11MD) training for all law enforcement officers, and develop
<br />partnerships of public and private responders and specialists.
<br />Copies of this study have been provided to the North Carolina Division of
<br />Emergency Management and to all participating counties. Citizens can access the full report at
<br />the County Commissioners' library in the Government Services Center, at public libraries in
<br />Orange County, and on the website at www.co.oranc~e.nc.us/ems.
<br />Nick Waters said that this study has created more questions than answers and
<br />they are going to think about how to address these issues. He made reference to the small pax
<br />vaccination plan that the Health Department is working on and said that they should work
<br />together and test the plan and make sure that the assumptions will work.
<br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the 578 licensed beds in Orange County.
<br />Nick Waters said that this only refers to hospital-licensed beds.
<br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that this past Saturday morning he got caught in
<br />traffic getting to Greensboro from Burlington and it was a normal Saturday morning and it was a
<br />gridlock. He said that it would be scary if something actually happened and there had to be an
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