Forum 2 EJ
Analyze the idea that the only way to safeguard the public from continuing threat of bioterrorism is to impose restrictions on civil liberties.
In my opinion, the greatest enemy we as Americans face is the attack that we don’t see coming. This was very evident during 9/11 and how the people, businesses, and government acted around the Nation. Within hours the entire country was locked down. Everything from flights to the stock market were closed. A biological attack would be one of those attacks that we would not see coming and it would cause mass panic and chaos within the Nation As stated in our lesson this week, the government does have the ability to quarantine an affected area if it deems necessary under “Title 42 of the United States Code, the Stafford Act, and the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002” (APUS, 2009, para.7). These acts are taking away the freedom of all people in the area to go about their daily lives and I would have to agree that it is necessary. If a bio attack happened, I would have to say yes, restrictions on civil liberties would be a must in order to contain the method of distribution. In most cases that is person to person contact (Thavaselvam and Rajagopalan, 2010). The act of quarantine and taking the freedoms of those who may be infected would be a necessary step to ensure the rest of the Nation would not be infected.
What are some trends that have been taken in American history in dealing with public health issues?
For the most part in the early days of America, public health was a reactionary system. If a disease popped up then health professionals around the US would eventually find a cure and make a vaccine, however a lot of people had to die or get infected before that was possible. Take polio for example of this evolution. The first epidemic in the US was in the late 1800’s and lasted until a vaccine was created in the 1960’s (Physicians of Philadelphia, 2019). Although Polio can’t be cured, it can be prevented. The Polio, which was spread through touch, got so bad that the world had to find a cure, therefore were reactive. Over time the health department started to become proactive in fighting off diseases or other public health issues. Flu shots, and many different vaccines for children slowly became very common and the norm. Even the military started to receive immunizations for bio weapons such as small pox and anthrax. Therefore, the trend has become proactive instead of reactive.
Describe the various elements of public health statutes that are important elements of public health emergency response plans.
Public health and emergency management often times go hand in hand. During an event such as a natural disaster or a terrorist attack the country relies on the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The NIMS is a comprehensive guide that allows many different agencies to work together during a diaster related event and this includes public health (FEMA, 2017). Within the ERP, the safety officer advises the IC on matters of health and safety (FEMA, 2017). If the event is on a federal level, “the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leads Federal public health and medical response to public health emergencies and incidents” (FEMA, 2017, p.58). Just as we discussed above, HHS under “Title 42 of the United States Code, the Stafford Act, and the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002” (APUS, 2009, para.7) does have the authority to coordain areas or even stop rescue workers from conducting operations due to health concerns. An example of this would be if a bio weapon we deployed within a football stadium. There would more than likely be a unified command and HHS would have control over what precautions would be need for a rescue to be made.
Should restricting civil liberties be a last resort when dealing with public health issues?
This would all depend on what the public health risk was. If there was a new strain of small pox outbreak then there would be no question that if I were the CDC, it would be my first act and I would lock the entire infected area down. Again, this would be to ensure that the spread of the bio weapon could be stopped or at least hindered until a vaccine was established. If it was something like the swine flu, which is not deadly to every person then yes, restricting civil liberties would be a last resort. Look, I am all for our freedoms, but if those freedoms will cause harm to another induvial then they must be taken away for a short time.
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