Preparing for bioterror

The BBC's Chris Hogg looks at the future of the NHS

Just how does the UK prepare for the possibility for a bioterrorism attack, asks BBC Health Correspondent Chris Hogg.

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Some financiers working on the upper floors of Canary Wharf are buying parachutes to store under their desks in case of terrorist attack.

Urban myth or sensible precaution? I don't know if it's true or not.

We all want to know that everything possible is being done to protect us

The information came from a man we spoke to who sells products to firms to help them decontaminate their offices if they discover asbestos.

He's now doing a roaring trade selling the products as a defence against anthrax.

Such is the concern about the possibility of a biological attack it seems firms are willing to try almost anything to protect their staff.

But what about the government?

We all want to know that everything possible is being done to protect us.

Reassurance

We need reassurance that should we find ourselves in the middle of a suspected outbreak there are plans in place to make it safe.

But we have not been told, at least not in detail.

Now on the one hand that makes sense.

Tell the Today programme how much of each type of antibiotics you have stored to guard against attack, and where you're keeping them and the information is immediately on the web, perhaps even on the newswires.

It's the modern equivalent of a telegram to a terrorist.

Then there's the risk of adding to the steadily rising sense of panic.

Last weekend a tabloid newspaper advised its readers the first thing they should do in the event of an attack was to cut off their clothes down to their underwear.

But don't we have a right to know more? Remember BSE? Didn't they tell us there was no evidence of any risk then as well?

Antibiotic stockpiles

So far, short of confirming that stockpiles of antibiotics have been secured, the government has said very little, although it has promised more information over the next few days.

But information about what would happen if there were to be an outbreak is beginning to trickle out.

There is no Whitehall department for dealing with emergencies

The Public Health Laboratory Service has updated its guidelines for how to deal with a deliberate attempt to spread anthrax in the population.

The first problem will be to define the 'exposed zone'.

This might not be as easy as it sounds. In the event of a covert release, the guidance states, it won't be possible to define an exposed zone until two or more suspected or confirmed cases have been given.

So who will decide? Well there lies another problem say some of those involved in emergency planning.

Just who will be in charge?

On the ground, initially at least, the police are responsible for sealing off the immediate area like they do at a train crash, or a road traffic accident.

But as the emergency continues defining who is at risk and what should be done may get complicated.

There is no Whitehall department for dealing with emergencies.

Each department; health, home office, transport has its own protocols and procedures for dealing with an emergency.

What worries some experts is the prospect of an attack in a school, or in the tube when all sorts of officials from the different departments responsible start getting involved in discussing what should be done.

Joined-up government seems to be hard to achieve at the best of times.

In the face of unprecedented biological attack it may prove impossible.

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