State officials say plan’s in place for emergencies

Iowa’s state health department held a news conference today (Friday) to discuss preparedness for terrorist attacks. Public Health Director Stephen Gleason pointed out the state already had agencies and people ready to respond to attacks or disasters.He says the Public Health Department’s there to activate each of them and start them working in their areas, from nuclear and chemical war response, to biological defenses, to medical disaster readiness. The president created a national cabinet-level agency of “Homeland Security,” and several states have done the same thing.Iowa has State Emergency Management Division Director, Ellen Gordon, who coordinates activities of police, National Guard and the health sector. Dr. Gleason says in the same way, when national agencies like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or Centers for Disease Control send a warning or recommendation, it’ll be local Iowans who carry it out.He says there’s federal money to do that, and more will come, and the experts who’ll handle emergencies are people already on the state payroll. Other officials at the briefing pointed out that anything Iowa does to improve readiness for attacks can also improve its response to natural disasters or things like the next winter flu season.