Should terrorists ever unleash a biological attack in Kansas if, say, residents contract smallpox or anthrax infects a herd of livestock local officials would probably turn to Sandy Johnson.

And Johnson, in turn, would call on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the resources of the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile.

The stockpile is on 50-ton pallets, filled with antibiotics, medicine and other medical equipment, stored at undisclosed locations throughout the United States in a “push package” waiting to be delivered within 12 hours to any location terrorists strike.

Johnson, the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile coordinator for Kansas since August, is developing a plan to manage those supplies. That includes coordinating the Kansas Highway Patrol to protect the medicines, local emergency management agencies to oversee the distribution, hospitals where vaccines would be administered and private contractors to do the heavy lifting in between those steps.

“We’re figuring how you get the stuff from here to there without it getting lost or stolen,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to make it as easy as possible, considering the circumstances.”

The plan is near completion. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment will explain it at a series of meetings next month throughout the state.

“I think if it (a terrorist strike) happened today, we could handle it,” Johnson said. “But the plan’s not as pretty as I’d like it to be.”

The stockpile has been around for years; Johnson received her first training on the issue in 2000. But the Sept. 11 attacks, along with the subsequent anthrax attacks, unleashed a new effort nationwide to prepare for its use.

“Every single state is in the process of developing a plan,” said Joan Morrissey, a CDC spokeswoman. “We would rush the package to the state, and at that point, they would basically own the assets.”

It’s not just the states that have to figure out their plans. Counties are also being asked to prepare.

“There’s a lot of work going on,” Johnson said. “There’s not a jurisdiction that hasn’t been working on it.”

¢ Bioterrorism planning emphasizes need for self-reliance at local level (10-22-2002)

And the private sector’s been giving it thought, as well. In Lawrence, Fortis Consulting Group has been developing computer simulations that company officials say will help state and local governments test their plans to manage a shipment from the stockpile.

“I think people are now realizing the importance of this,” said Richard Hernandez, a principal at Fortis.

His partner, Ed Church, said not everybody was acting quickly enough.

“Some counties are doing nothing,” he said. “This isn’t even on their radar screens. If an event happened there, there could be serious ramifications.”

Hernandez and Church said Douglas County was better prepared than most. Douglas County Emergency Management staged a bioterrorism seminar last week in Lawrence. Paula Phillips, director of Douglas County Emergency Management, said Fortis’ work showed preparations were still incomplete.

“We’re trying to use their concept to show we need more information from the CDC and the state about how we’re going to use the package if we receive it,” she said.

Dr. Jerry Jaax, research provost at Kansas State University and a former Army researcher, said the plan would not only help officials respond to an attack it might prevent it as well.

“It would be a deterrent,” Jaax said. “An attack loses its luster if you know it can be dealt with.”

Dealing with an attack would never be easy, Johnson said.

“I think the motto is we’re not ready for it. I don’t know if we ever can be,” she said. “But we’re better off than we were a year ago.”