Disease containment critical to base's well-being

  • Published
  • By Lois Walsh
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  As threats to the military and communities throughout the world evolve, so does the need to prepare to meet those threats head-on. 

Being in tune with chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and enhanced conventional weapons, or CBRNE for short, is nothing new for the Airmen here. However, since Sept. 11, 2001, there is growing concern about biological agents. These agents, like pandemic flu, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and bird flu, naturally occur and, according to Col. Gary Hurwitz, carry a much wider footprint than conventional weapons. He said the potential impact is within the realm of being devastating to a community; and as a real threat, it is something the military needs to prepare for. 

Colonel Hurwitz, Eglin's Public Health Emergency Officer and commander of the 96th Aerospace Medicine Squadron, said he is currently more concerned about naturally occurring threats than a terrorist or nuclear attack in the United States, though the latter are certainly within the realm of possibility.

Biological events are naturally occurring and there's ready access to the materials that can wreak havoc," he said. 

To prepare for those possibilities, Eglin is hosting a full-operation capability Disease Containment Exercise the week of Feb. 2. It's a chance for on-base agencies to show full-operational capability. It also gives Eglin the nod by higher headquarters that personnel here are recognized as being ready to respond to a disease threat. 

Colonel Hurwitz said a public health emergency officer slot has been added to every base. There is also a plan dedicated to disease containment (AFI 10-2604) that provides a customized level of response for the installation. And while this added requirement does increase the workload, he's pleased that the disease threat is "is getting an appropriate level of attention." The colonel knows that exercising checklists and playing through scenarios is crucial to base preparedness, even though on-base personnel might be inconvenienced during the week. 

"Exercises help us evaluate our strengths and weaknesses so we can better respond and execute efficiently to any event scenario, be it man-made or otherwise," the colonel said. 

Part of the exercise will be interacting with local community response teams. Colonel Hurwitz said working together is indispensible because biological threats are not going to be isolated events. 

"We are, in effect, a suburb of the greater community; we are so integrated it's unrealistic to say the military is planning for its own event because we live and intermingle with each other." 

In 2005, the military adopted a command structure that mirrors to what was in place for civilian response teams. Now response is planned in a way that is integrated across the board. 

"When we stand up the Emergency Operations Center and the community does, they are parallel," Colonel Hurwitz said. 

A passing score on the exercise does not mean the checklists go back on the shelf for another year. The colonel said there is a formalized ongoing education plan and "definitive guidance to provide key and functional leader training on a regular basis." He said disease threats are constantly evolving and scenarios addressing them will be incorporated into future exercises. 

"The bottom line is nothing is going to affect the community that isn't going to affect Eglin," Colonel Hurwitz said.