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What is the County working on?What is terrorism?What types of Attacks are Possible?What can I do to prepare myself and my family?What should I do if I think I have received a suspicious envelope or package? What are the signs that a poison gas attack (or a chemical accident) might be taking place? What are the signs of a biological attack? What can citizens do to protect themselves from a possible biological disaster? Should citizens stockpile antibiotics? What precautions can citizens take with their water supply? Where should citizens turn for instructions in the event of a chemical or biological disaster? Should citizens buy gas masks? Would it be easy for terrorists to acquire chemical agents? How easy would it be for terrorists to disperse a chemical agent effectively? Would it be easy for terrorists to acquire biological agents? How easy would it be for terrorists to disperse a biological agent effectively? What places are terrorists likely to target for a chemical or biological agent attack? Could terrorists poison the water supply? Can crop dusters be used to disperse chemical agents? Can crop dusters be used to disperse biological warfare agents? What is the County working on?In the last year, the Cape May County Health Department has made major inroads in preparing its response in the event of a public health threat stemming from a terrorist act.
What is terrorism?Describing terrorism is easy: Terrorism is the illegal use of force or violence to create fear, panic or cooperation, or to collect ransom. What types of attacks are possible?There have been many reports and much speculation on the potential tactics a terrorist may employ on the
What can I do to prepare myself and my family?The following information and links to general emergency preparedness information can help prepare you and your family for a potential terrorist attack. Preparing for a terrorist event is similar to preparing for any other type of emergency. It begins with making sure that you have the supplies and plans in place to take care of yourself and your family. It is also good to plan to help your neighbors and your community, particularly those with special needs who may have trouble or are unable to prepare for themselves. The following links take you to other pages on our site where we discuss how to best prepare. These techniques help during terrorist events, hurricanes, blizzards as well as any type of emergency or disaster you may face. You should: Develop Your Emergency Checklist What are the signs that a poison gas attack (or a chemical accident) might be taking place? One of the many unsettling characteristics of chemical agents is that some of them cannot be seen or smelled. Citizens can protect themselves by observing the following rule of thumb: If a single person is on the ground, choking or seizing, it is likely this individual is having a heart attack or some sort of seizure. However, if several people are down, coughing, vomiting, or seizing, they could be reacting to the presence of a toxic substance. Evacuate the area immediately and dial 911, making sure to tell the dispatcher that a hazardous gas may be present.
What are the signs of a biological attack? By now, the media has repeatedly broadcast that biological agents can be dispersed from commercial sprayers, such as crop dusters. Often omitted from these reports is the fact that, among other complications, commercial equipment would have to be modified for such an attack strategy to have a chance of success. Still, crop dusters are out of place over cities, and the FBI has already placed restrictions about where they can fly. Were I to see one over a metropolitan area, I would immediately go indoors, shut all windows and doors, turn off the air conditioner, and notify authorities. The same would hold true for any other unusual spraying activities. For instance, a person tending a rooftop garden would not raise my suspicions, but an individual deliberately spraying a substance from a rooftop, or a truck dispersing a misty substance through side vents, would. Keep in mind that occasionally local authorities employ helicopters and other means to spray approved pesticides to control mosquitoes and other pests. Officially sanctioned spraying activities are announced well in advance, repeatedly. A call to local authorities can confirm whether any spraying that you might observe would fall into that category. What can citizens do to protect themselves from a possible biological disaster? Frankly, it may not be apparent that a biological agent has been dispersed until people begin falling ill several days later. For most biological agents, the initial symptoms would resemble a flu-like malaise. Across the nation, local, state, and federal authorities are putting capabilities in place to improve the ability to detect abnormal public health problems rapidly---to distinguish between multiple cases of the flu or a possible biological agent attack. As the normal cold and flu season rolls around in the next few months, please do not jump to the conclusion that you have been infected with a biowarfare agent if you begin to feel achy or have the sniffles. In fact, people catch colds throughout the year. You are more likely to get hit by lightning than to be the victim of a bioterrorist attack. If, however, you hear reports that a biological agent may have just been released, stay indoors or get indoors right away, shut all windows and doors, and turn off the air conditioning system. The most worrisome method of biological agent dissemination is aerosol dispersal. For a biowarfare aerosol to make you ill, microscopic particles must find their way into your lungs. Therefore, putting a physical barrier in between you and a possible aerosol cloud is a key self-protection step. If a very fine aerosol is in the air, just going indoors will not offer the type of impermeable protection afforded by an airtight enclosure, but a physical barrier would help reduce the risk of exposure. Other steps could be taken to reduce the ability that aerosol particles would infiltrate a building---sealing door and window openings, installing HVAC air filtration systems---but such precautions would only pay off if the time and place of an attack were known in advance so that people could take shelter in such places. Of course, a gas mask can provide respiratory protection. Alternately, a surgical mask or one of the respiratory protection masks recommended for various construction and laboratory tasks would help to screen out particulate matter that might be in the air, but these do not provide ironclad respiratory protection.. To protect your airway, masks need to be fitted snugly over the mouth and nose. The Army Handbook on Medical Management of Biological Casualties recommends that medical personnel attending patients infected with most biowarfare agents employ what is known as "standard precautions." This term essentially means wearing a surgical mask and gloves. Standard precautions are effective against anthrax, brucellosis, Q fever, tularemia, viral encephalitis, botulinum toxin, and Staphylococcal enterotoxin b. Should citizens stockpile antibiotics? NO. Keeping a stockpile of antibiotics is, in short, a bad idea. While antibiotics would be used to treat individuals who might fall ill during a disease outbreak, the use of these medications should always be done at the direction of a physician. People who self-medicate themselves or their children could very well do more harm than good because adverse side effects may occur. Moreover, overuse of antibiotics, as well as their misuse (to treat illnesses such as colds), is harmful as it reduces the ability of these drugs to work in serious health emergencies. The What precautions can citizens take with their water supply? Poisoning of a city's water supply is much more easily said than done. However, citizens can protect themselves by boiling their drinking water, which will kill any microorganisms that may have survived the municipal filtration systems. Another option is to use a personal water filtration system. Where should citizens turn for instructions in the event of a chemical or biological disaster? The electronic and print media can be very useful sources of information, especially when events are developing at a rapid pace. However, reporters can occasionally pass along faulty or inaccurate information. Local, state, and national public health, public safety, and emergency management officials would be the most reliable sources of information. As soon as the circumstances are understood, these officials will call press conferences to convey accurate information and instructions to the public. Subsequent press conferences will be called as frequently as possible to update the public about the steps that local, state, and federal government organizations are taking to address the situation and what individuals can do to help themselves and their fellow citizens. In a genuine disaster, the Emergency Broadcast System would also probably be employed to give instructions to citizens. Should citizens buy gas masks? The chances that terrorists will turn to poisonous substances instead of conventional bombs are very, very remote. Various news reports have noted that citizens are opting to purchase protective masks as a way to defend against chemical or biological terrorism. There are several important factors to bear in mind when considering this option. In order for a mask to protect you against a chemical weapons attack, you would need to carry the mask with you at all times---24 hours a day, 7 days a week---and be prepared to put it on immediately if chemical emergency was suspected. To guard against a biological attack, you would need not only to carry the mask but also wear it at all times, since the presence of biological agents is not obvious without advanced sensors. Gas masks capable of effectively protecting people from either chemical or biological agents are not a "one size fits all" purchase. At this point there are many different sizes and brands of masks available on the open market. It is critically important to make sure that the mask fits you properly---a loose gas mask defeats the purpose. Reputable dealers would be able to provide instructions not only on finding the right mask fit, but also on how to put it on, how to maintain it, and how to take care of the filters the mask uses as a barrier against microscopic particles. All that being said, if you would feel more comfortable purchasing a gas mask, by all means, go ahead. Steer clear of Internet auctions and classifieds. Make sure that the seller can answer your questions about fit and upkeep. For the record, I personally do not carry a gas mask with me. I take the subway to and from work daily, and I continue to go to meetings and other events in large buildings. Note also that the only nation that has issued gas masks to all of its citizens in recent history is the state of Have terrorists been actively seeking chemical and biological weapons capabilities? If so, what have they been doing with them?Media reports that a handful of terrorist organizations have been exploring chemical and biological weapons are accurate, including the terrorist organization Al Qaeda. The terrorist group headed by Usama bin Laden may well have acquired a rudimentary chemical weapons capability, but that does not automatically translate into an ability to conduct a mass casualty attack with a chemical warfare agent. When all is said and done, there are no guarantees that terrorists groups may not overcome the technical hurdles involved. However, for the reasons discussed below, the technical hurdles to actually developing an effective large-scale chemical or biological weapons program---as opposed to investigating or experimenting with them---may well turn out to be so sizeable that terrorists would choose to remain reliant on more conventional means of attack. Would it be easy for terrorists to acquire chemical agents?Chemical weapons formulas have been published and publicly available for decades. Mustard agents came of age during World War I, and nerve agents were discovered in the mid-1930s. The production processes used over seventy years ago are still viable. The ingredients and equipment a group would need to produce these agents are readily available because they are also the same items that are used to make various commercial items that we use everyday---from ballpoint pens to plastics to ceramics to fireworks. Scientists with a solid chemical background could likely make certain agents in small quantities. However, two factors stand in the way of manufacturing chemical agents for the purpose of mass casualty. First, the chemical reactions involved with the production of agents are dangerous: precursor chemicals can be volatile and corrosive, and minor misjudgments or mistakes in processing could easily result in the deaths of would-be weaponeers. Second, this danger grows when the amount of agent that would be needed to successfully mount a mass casualty attack is considered. Attempting to make sufficient quantities would require either a large, well-financed operation that would increase the likelihood of discovery or, alternatively, a long, drawn-out process of making small amounts incrementally. These small quantities would then need to be stored safely in a manner that would not weaken the agent's toxicity before being released. It would take 18 years for a basement-sized operation to produce the more than two tons of sarin gas that the Pentagon estimates would be necessary to kill 10,000 people, assuming the sarin was manufactured correctly at its top lethality. How easy would it be for terrorists to disperse a chemical agent effectively?The options for delivering poison gas range from high to low tech. Theoretically, super toxic chemicals could be employed to foul food or water supplies, put into munitions, or distributed by an aerosol or spray method. Because of safeguards on our food and water supplies as well as the difficulty of covertly disbursing sufficient quantities of agent, this method is unlikely to be an effective means to achieving terrorist aims. Chemical agents could also be the payload of any number of specially designed or modified conventional munitions, from bombs and grenades to artillery shells and mines. However designing munitions that reliably produce vapor and liquid droplets requires a certain amount of engineering skill. Finally, commercial sprayers could be mounted on planes or other vehicles. In an outdoor attack such as this, however, 90 percent of the agent is likely to dissipate before ever reaching its target. Effective delivery, which entails getting the right concentration of agent and maintaining it long enough for inhalation to occur, is quite difficult to achieve because chemical agents are highly susceptible to weather conditions. Would it be easy for terrorists to acquire biological agents?Oftentimes, obtaining biological agents is portrayed as being as easy as taking a trip to the country. The experience of the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo proves that this is not the case. Isolating a particularly virulent strain in nature---out of, for example, the roughly 675 strains of botulinum toxin that have been identified---is no easy task. Despite having skilled scientists among its members, Aum was unable to do so. Terrorists could also approach one of the five hundred culture collections worldwide, some of which carry lethal strains. Within the How easy would it be for terrorists to disperse a biological agent effectively?Terrorists cannot count on just filling the delivery system with agent, pointing the device, and flipping the switch to activate it. Facets that must be deciphered include the concentration of agent in the delivery system, the ways in which the delivery system degrades the potency of the agent, and the right dosage to incapacitate or kill human or animal targets. For open-air delivery, the meteorological conditions must be taken into account. Biological agents have extreme sensitivity to sunlight, humidity, pollutants in the atmosphere, temperature, and even exposure to oxygen, all of which can kill the microbes. Biological agents can be dispersed in either dry or wet forms. Using a dry agent can boost effectiveness because drying and milling the agent can make the particles very fine, a key factor since particles must range between 1 to 10 ten microns, ideally to 1 to 5, to be breathed into the lungs. Drying an agent, however, is done through a complex and challenging process that requires a sophistication of equipment and know-how that terrorist organizations are unlikely to possess. The alternative is to develop a wet slurry, which is much easier to produce but a great deal harder to disperse effectively. Wet slurries can clog sprayers and undergo mechanical stresses that can kill 95 percent or more of the microorganisms. Are terrorists trying to create genetically engineered biological agents to target certain ethnic groups?While it is impossible to know what is happening behind closed laboratory doors worldwide, anyone trying to genetically engineer a weapon to attack Americans would encounter an incredibly tall technical challenge. What places are terrorists likely to target for a chemical or biological agent attack?Part of what terrorists count on to "terrorize" is that it is never really possible to know where they will strike next. Conventional wisdom says that terrorists intent on causing mass casualties would target large buildings, sporting arenas, or transit systems. Given my knowledge of how difficult it would be for terrorists to successfully execute a poison gas or germ attack, I have no concern about frequenting such locations. Could terrorists poison the water supply?The "pill in the water supply" is a myth about chemical terrorism that is not true. All metropolitan water supplies have certain safeguards in place between their citizens and the reservoir. Everyday, water goes through various purification processes and is tested repeatedly. If terrorists were to attempt to poison a reservoir, they would need to disperse truly huge amounts of agent into the water---smaller amounts would be diluted---and the vessels required for such a feat would be difficult to miss. Many cities have implemented heightened security around their reservoirs in order to further monitor any questionable activities. Can crop dusters be used to disperse chemical agents?Crop dusters are routinely employed in the agricultural industry to spread fertilizers, pesticides, and seeds. Indeed, crop dusters could be employed to spread a chemical warfare agent. However, anyone trying to commandeer a crop duster for this purpose would have to understand a multitude of factors in order to execute a chemical weapons attack. First, they would have to know how to load the spreader. Second, they would have to be able to actually take-off in a loaded crop duster, a difficult task given that the heavy weight of the loaded spreading apparatus makes take-off in a crop duster quite challenging. To use a basic analogy, the difference between taking off in a regular small aircraft versus a crop duster is similar to the difference between handling a nimble sports car versus a fully loaded double-trailer truck. Pilots of crop dusters are required to have a one-year apprenticeship to learn how to operate and fly the aircraft safely. Someone with limited piloting experience in light aircraft would be considerably challenged to translate those basic skills into an ability to get a loaded crop duster successfully off the ground. On average, crop dusters carry between 300 to 600 gallons of material, although there are some that have an 800-gallon capacity. A 300-gallon tank could hold more than a ton of the nerve agent sarin. According to Pentagon calculations, a ton of sarin is enough to kill 10,000 people outdoors. Chemical agents, however, are very susceptible to the wind. Once in the air, the pilot would have to know how to operate the spreader and understand the meteorological patterns in the intended target area. The pilot would have to know the correct altitude over the target area to fly in order to disperse the agent effectively. In cities, where meteorological conditions can vary from block to block-with the wind whipping in currents between and around tall buildings-spreading the agent in a manner that would achieve a lethal dose would not be a simple task.
Can crop dusters be used to disperse biological warfare agents?The sprayers of crop dusters are geared to spread their materials over fields in an efficient manner, laying down fertilizer, for example, so that it settles on the crop. The key to effective biological weapons agent dispersal is exactly the opposite, to achieve a superfine aerosol spray that lingers in the air instead of settling on the ground. To infect the human lung, the required particle size of a biological warfare agent is 1 to 10 ten microns, ideally to 1 to 5. Yet, the sprayers on the average crop dusters aim to disperse in 100 micron particle sizes or greater, a heavier weight that improves the chances of the materials settling on the target area. These sprayers cannot be "dialed down," so to speak, to consistently disperse the payload in the necessary micron size. Anyone hijacking a crop duster with the intent of spreading biowarfare agents would have to reconfigure the spraying apparatus to achieve the smaller particle size. Put another way, the nozzles would have to be changed. This changeover is, of course, technically possible, but it rules out a grab the-plane-and-go scenario. Prior to an attempted attack, the adjusted spraying apparatus would need to be tested to ensure that it would perform properly. In addition, anyone attempting this type of an attack would have to understand the correct throughput rate for the biowarfare agent involved. If the agent to be dispersed was in a wet form, the operation of the sprayer could be problematic. Wet slurries tend to clog spray nozzles. Moreover, the sheer mechanical forces of putting a wet slurry through a sprayer can kill 95 percent or more of the agent. In varying degrees, biowarfare agents are susceptible to meteorological conditions, such that once released, the microscopic particles will begin to die. In order to be effective, not only must the biowarfare agent be in a microscopic particle size, it must also be alive when it reaches the human lung. If the individual(s) have overcome the technical hurdles involved in producing a dry biowarfare agent, dispersal from an adjusted crop duster would not be as difficult. Dry biowarfare agents do not tend to clog sprayers and are hardened against environmental conditions.
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