Security panelist says hospitals, health care forgotten in fed plans

Jace Radke

Friday, Jan. 9, 2004 | 9:53 a.m.

Health care and hospitals have been largely forgotten by the federal Department of Homeland Security, a member of the Nevada Homeland Security Commission said Thursday.

Dr. Dale Carrison, commission member and director of emergency services at University Medical Center, said he doesn't want anyone to forget the medical system in the nation's planning for potential terrorist acts.

"The hospitals are the last link, and it's one that has been forgotten," Carrison said after Thursday's commission meeting. "We can do the best possible job on preparation and prevention, but the end result of some kind of attack or incident is going to be patients.

"We're already overloaded when it comes to patients, and a large incident would further strain our ability to treat everyone."

The commission created 13 committees Thursday including the health committee, which Carrison will lead.

Carrison said he hopes that health care doesn't get lost in the shuffle when it comes to federal funding for homeland security.

Among other areas Carrison hopes to address: portable decontamination areas; mobile hospital units and triage centers; and training for doctors so they can more quickly identify rare diseases.

The delayed Southern Nevada Public Health Laboratory should help with identifying dangerous diseases and bioterrorism agents when it opens in late February or early March. Construction delays have pushed back the opening of the lab originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2003.

Once the $2.3 million lab opens it will need federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention licensing in order to become a biosafety level three lab on par with the state health lab in Reno, laboratory director Pat Armour said.

"The Centers for Disease Control are about six months behind in their licensing, but once we open we can ask them to expedite because of the need in Southern Nevada," Armour said. "Until we are approved by the CDC we will be able to make preliminary findings."

Until the CDC approves the lab for level three work, samples that appear to be infected by a biological agent will have to continue to be sent to the state lab in Reno for analysis.

The other subcommittees approved by the commission were agriculture, cyberterrorism, intelligence, hotels and utilities, finance, communications, by-laws, emergency response, government identification, public information, tourism and funding outreach.

Those serving on the hotel and utility subcommittee may find themselves working on trying to get Nevada's resorts to comply with a law that requires they turn in emergency response plans to the state's division of emergency management.

Assembly Bill 250 requires hotels with more than 200 rooms to submit emergency plans, but only 49 of about 160 qualifying hotels statewide have turned in their plans, State Homeland Security Advisor Jerry Bussell said.

Commission Vice Chairman Jerry Keller asked Nevada Chief of Emergency management Frank Siracusa to send a letter to the hotels who have not complied. There are no penalties for failing to submit a plan, according to the law.

Tim Donovan, president of the Las Vegas Security Chiefs Association, said it is up to each hotel to comply.

"I've brought it up at meetings, so they are all aware of it," said Donovan, whose organization represents about 90 hotels. "Each of these properties has a plan in place."

Donovan said that some of the emergency plans can be as big as 300 to 400 pages in length and that some properties haven't had a chance to convert their plans to computer form. He also admitted that getting a plan to the division of emergency management may not be a priority for some hotels, because Metro Police and hotel security are already familiar with their plans.

"I think part of it is the fragmented way we heard about this, and what we've recently gone through with New Year's and the security level," Donovan said. "I think we'll see more come in now that it is slowing down."

The commission has yet to determine what recommendation it will make to Siracusa and Guinn concerning how homeland security dollars will be divided within the state.

A recommendation will have to be made this spring after fiscal year 2004 federal grant are triggered. The state is scheduled to receive $26.5 million in funds in 2004, plus Clark County is in line for a separate $10.5 million grant as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative.

Those funds will be triggered after Siracusa's office submits a statewide security assessment due to the Department of Homeland Security by Jan. 31.