Community Civil Defense

 Community Civil Defense is a core goal of

"A Biosurveillance Center (ABC) at Malden Brook"
 

Background

In communities across the nation, the events of September 11, 2001, generated alarming concern over potential public health dangers arising from natural disasters, environmental contamination and biological terrorists attacks. Unlike many health emergencies caused by biological agents occurring naturally in the environment, a bioterrorist attack is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs (agents). The obvious goal of such assaults is to cause illness or death in people, animals or plants.

Moreover, even naturally occurring agents can be modified to increase their threat to community safety, make them resistant to current medicines, or be spread more easily into the environment through the air or water, or in food. Today, more than ever, there is an urgent and critical need for communities to detect, diagnose and treat biological and chemical threats and as a way to help safeguard human health.

In 2007, A Biosurveillance Center (ABC) at Malden Brook Farm, a division of American Veterinary Medical Frontiers (AVMF). began to develop a strategic plan. This plan, A Comprehensive National Model for Community Civil Defense: Including Biological Contamination, Preparedness and Response, has been critically reviewed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the Massachusetts Director of Infrastructure Investments, the Harvard Medical School Division of Disaster Medicine, and other government agencies.

Click here to read a letter of support for ABC from Jim Edmundson, Vice Chair of the West Boylston Open Space Implementation Committee.   

Strategic Master Plan

The AVMF Strategic Master Plan addresses the scenario "What if communities were suddenly faced with pandemics or other disease problems of unknown and known origins?" The Plan illustrates how to utilize the unique resources of the Malden Brook Farm and its associated veterinary practice to advance local, regional and statewide public health and safety efforts to prepare for and respond to bioterrorism or other environmental catastrophes.
 
The Plan addresses biological pandemic preparedness for both acts of terrorism as well as naturally occurring disease detection and response. It includes provisions for infrastructure damage and environmental protection. The Plan also specifies unique solutions for dealing with disease outbreaks that affect public health on a large scale, and serves as a civil defense template for communities across the nation.

Phase 1 of the plan describes:

o Restoration and integration of existing buildings on the Malden Brook Farm as base infrastructure for community civil defense.

o  Establishment of a mobile-based communications and notification system.

o  Development of a pilot biosurveillance monitoring program.

Phase 2 establishes a research/campus site on Malden Brook Farm to serve as a regional and real-time disease-surveillance and outbreak-early-warning system. Phase 3, if necessary, is the construction of an underground facility on the farm for the storage of vaccines, crop seeds and safe access to potable water.

Although the Plan received bi-partisan political support from the community of West Boylston, state officials and national leaders, it was revised in 2009 for the purposes of funding and immediate implementation. As a result, only Phase 1 – A Biosurveillance Center (ABC) at Malden Brook Farm – remains in development.

National Bearing

The AVMF Strategic Master Plan makes clear reference to the U.S. government's 2008 report, "World at Risk," by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Proliferation and Terrorism.

In a letter to President George W. Bush, dated December, 2, 2008, the bi-partisan Commission stated, "The intent of this report is neither to frighten nor to reassure the American people about the current state of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. It is to underscore that the U.S. government has yet to fully adapt to these circumstances, and to convey the sobering reality that the risks are growing faster than our multilayered defenses. Our margin of safety is shrinking, not growing."
 
The Commission submitted another report to President Obama on 26 January 2010. The Commission issues a report card on national preparedness. The grades? Very low or failing in many categories.

The report states, "The assessment is not a good one, particularly in the area of biological threat. While the government has made progress on preventing such attacks, it is simply not paying consistent and urgent attention to the means of responding quickly and effectively so that they no longer constitute a threat of mass destruction. The failures did not begin with the current group of leaders. Each of the last three Administrations has been slow to recognize and respond to the biothreat. The difference is that the danger has grown to the point that we no longer have the luxury of a slow learning curve. The clock is ticking, and time is running out."

In addressing most of the areas of neglect identified by the Commission’s report, the AVMF Strategic Plan is ahead of its time. The Commission's report is entirely accurate in observing that pandemics can occur at local, state, national and global levels. AVMF's Plan is to coordinate programs with federal, state and municipal governments, academic institutions, and public health organizations. This kind of efficient, comprehensive interaction is vital to a timely response to certain crisis situations.

The scope of the Plan is not limited to the Town of West Boylston or even the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but enhances national civil defense to combat pandemics and disasters we hope will never occur.

The Need

Funding is critical to moving the AVMF Strategic Master Plan forward. AVMF seeks financial support from federal and state agencies, academic institutions and private foundations. Although the small town of West Boylston is less than an hour's drive from Greater Boston, with a population of over seven million, rural areas face the same risks from natural disasters, pandemics, influenza and bioterrorism as urban America.

Locally, immediate funds are needed to:

• Assess "what if?" scenarios and associated unexpected emergencies.
• Develop a bioterroism preparedness and response plan.
• Enhance community outreach and participation in public health and safety issues in the context of unthinkable natural disaster, catastrophes and terrorist incidents.