- Public health officials want to shut down roads and airports,
herd people into sports stadiums and, if needed, quarantine entire cities
in the event of a smallpox attack, according to a plan being forwarded
to all 50 governors this week.
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- The plan, drafted at the request of the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control, could give states sweeping new powers.
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- ``In tough times you have to make tough decisions,''
said Paul Jacobsen, assistant commissioner for the state Department of
Public Health, who said he received a copy of the 50-page plan last week.
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- ``There are times when you may have to evacuate, control
facilities and roads (and) the distribution of health supplies, and force
people to submit to examinations or be quarantined,'' he said.
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- ``If the alternative is to allow the spread of infectious
diseases, it's a no-brainer,'' he said.
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- The proposed ``model state emergency health powers act''
would have to be enacted by each state legislature. But federal health
officials say it is needed to keep smallpox or other infectious agents
from spreading.
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- Jacobsen said the model plan was drawn up with input
from the governors, state legislatures, health agencies and others.
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- One provision of the plan would give health authorities
control of private property for quarantine purposes, although Jacobsen
said that in Massachusetts the preference would be to use state armories
as much as possible. However, he noted such buildings as the FleetCenter
could be used.
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- The model also calls for the rationing of drugs and other
medical supplies by public health authorities, if necessary.
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- Under the proposed model, it would take only a declaration
of a public health emergency by the governor to set the law's provisions
in motion.
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- But the model also takes note of potential civil rights
problems associated with the law, saying: ``The Act recognizes that a state's
ability to respond to a public health emergency must respect the dignity
and rights of persons.'' Sen. Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge), co-chairman of
the Legislature's health care committee, has filed a bill that would incorporate
many provisions of the model law. ``We're not as prepared as we ought to
be,'' he said.
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- The bill would grant the state authority ``to use and
appropriate property as necessary for the care, treatment and housing of
patients, and for the destruction of contaminated materials.''
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- It calls for providing training, setting certification
standards for administration of medicines, and establishing civil immunity
for paramedics, EMS personnel and emergency health workers.
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- Moore's bill would examine the feasibility of developing
a statewide pharmacy communications network to track prescription drug
sales and calls for development of a program to certify nurses, including
retired or inactive nurses, to be called into action in case of emergency.
The bill would also look at the state's hospital capacity and preparedness
of public health facilities.
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- http://www.bostonherald.com/news/americas_new_war/pox11082001.htm
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