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12 Harmful Biological Agents in a Public Facility: The Airport Scenario
Pages 170-176

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From page 170...
... Often, there also is major commercial and residential development crowding nearby, and at the smaller facilities, surrounding neighborhoods are part of an "airport city," a fact that is important for the technical and the social dimensions of dealmg with an act of bioterrorism. Airport passenger terminals include two general kinds of space public space, routinely used by the traveling public, and support space, which houses 170
From page 171...
... Often the utilibes are linked to airportwide plants by tunnels that are large enough to accommodate foot traffic by maintenance workers and, occasionally, by small vehicles. Another key functional element of all major airports is ground transportation for passengers, including public transit systems, car rental agencies, and facilities for privately owned vehicles.
From page 172...
... The same agencies for many years also have recognized the benefits of planning for an emergency response to an attack. Airports routinely prepare, maintain, and penodically exercise emergency manuals, which set out the steps in considerable detail, The unfortunate reality is that we could face the need to decontaminate a major transportahon facility, and we would need to work through the complex technical and social decisions involved in such an effort, up to and including the decision to reopen the facility.
From page 173...
... In addihon to gathering information on the movement of air within a facility, it would also be useful to sample the air within the facility to determine background concentrations of microorganisms, Sampling should be done over a range of occupancy and weather conditions as well as at modal connection points, such as rail stations if they are present. Even then, the samplmg data would, at best, provide only a loose reference point for future comparison because of the sensitivity of air content and quality values to a host of factors that vary widely from day to day and even from hour to hour.
From page 174...
... Research done early in the planning process can provide valuable information about stakeholders, available communication channels, trust issues, perceptions of risk, and appropriate spokespersons who could help with the communication needed in the aftenmath of an attack. Advance discussion of potential scenarios can be useful for increasing trust and could decrease problems that could arise from a lack of familiarity with the issues.
From page 175...
... Recommendation 12-2 Plans should contain pertinent physical information on facilities, including floor plans, material charactenstics, air circulation pattenns, and air sampling data. The plans also should identify, and provide cunrent contact information for, organizahons and individuals who could be rapidly mobilized to identify the attacking agent and those who would be available to assist with the actual decontaminahon.


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