Jun 30, 2003 (CIDRAP News) Despite progress in the past 2 years, local emergency response agencies in the United States remain dangerously unprepared for major terrorist attacks, according to a new study by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan think tank.
Emergency responders, including public health agencies, need an estimated $98.4 billion above currently budgeted funds for the next 5 years "to establish a minimum effective response to a catastrophic terrorist attack" involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or conventional weapons, the council said in a news release.
"If the nation does not take immediate steps to better identify and address the urgent needs of emergency responders, the next terrorist incident could be even more devastating than 9/11," the organization said. Its report is titled Emergency Responders: Drastically Underfunded, Dangerously Unprepared.
A council task force met with emergency response organizations across the country and asked them "what additional programs they truly need" to achieve preparedness. The task force was led by Warren B. Rudman, former senator from New Hampshire, and advised by Richard B. Clarke, former White House terrorism and cyber-security expert. The panel consulted police, firefighters, emergency medical workers, public health providers, and others.
Among other problems, the council said public health laboratories in most states still lack basic equipment and expertise to respond adequately to a chemical or biological attack, and 75% of state labs report being overwhelmed by testing requests. In addition, most cities lack the necessary equipment to determine what kind of hazardous materials emergency responders may be facing.
The task force estimates it would take more than $38 billion over the next 5 years to adequately shore up hospital and public health preparedness and improve protection of the food supply. The panel cites the following needs:
- Hospitals: $29.6 billion to upgrade communications, personal protective equipment, mental health services, decontamination, and training
- Public health: $6.7 to enhance the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and epidemiologic services and to improve the preparedness of state and local health departments
- Food biosecurity: $2.1 billion to develop regional and state teams to respond to agricultural emergencies and enhance lab capacity
The report describes two major problems hampering the nation's preparedness: (1) a lack of preparedness standards, and (2) a politicized appropriations process and bureaucratic red tape, which combine to sidetrack and stall funds for emergency responders.
The report recommends a number of measures to overcome these problems. A few examples:
- Congress should require that the Department of Homeland Security work with state and local agencies and emergency-responder professional groups to define preparedness standards and guidelines.
- Congress should establish a system for allocating scarce resources "based less on dividing the spoils and more on addressing identified threats and vulnerabilities."
- To streamline budgeting, the House of Representatives should make the Select Committee on Homeland Security a standing committee and give it a leading role in authorizing emergency response spending.
- The Senate should consolidate oversight of emergency preparedness and response within the Government Affairs Committee.
The council said the projected federal budget for emergency responders for the next 5 years (starting in 2004) is $27 billion. To cover the $98 billion shortfall with federal funds alone would require a five-fold increase in annual funding, from $5.4 billion to $25.1 billion, according to the news release.
The council said the task force "credits the Bush administration, Congress, governors, and mayors for taking important steps since 9/11 to respond to the risk of catastrophic terrorism, and does not seek to apportion blame about what has not been done or not done quickly enough."
The new report is a follow-up to a study by the Hart-Rudman Homeland Security Task Force, released in October 2002. That report recommended steps for protecting the nation's ports, water systems, and other facilities from terrorist attacks.
See also:
Council on Foreign Relations news release
http://www.cfr.org/publication.php?id=6086#
Full text of report
http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/Responders_TF.pdf
