Max Cleland to Convene RountableTable
at Emory University on Georgia's Readiness for Bio-Terrorist Incident
Local leaders and experts will discuss state's preparations
U.S. Senator Max Cleland (D-GA) will convene a roundtable discussion
Monday, November 19 at Emory University on the State of Georgia's preparedness
for a bio-terrorist attack. In addition to Senator Cleland, participants
include Georgia Governor Roy Barnes; Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, Director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. James Curran, Dean
of Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health; Dr. Kathleen
Toomey, Director of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division
of Public Health; and Phil Jacobs of the Friends of CDC. The Roundtable
will highlight Georgia's evolving infrastructure and the federal, state,
and community partnerships necessary to effectively fight bio-terrorism.
Event: Roundtable on Georgia's Bio-terrorism Readiness
Date: November 19, 2001
Time: 10 a.m. - 12 noon
Location: Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University
1520 Clifton Rd., NE
CALL FOR DIRECTIONS
"National homeland defense begins and ends at the state and local levels,"
Cleland said. "As we work to shore up our preparedness on the national
level, it will be our first responders, our emergency room doctors,
and our fire and police forces who will be the ones on the front lines.
They must have the best training, resources and information to successfully
prevent a bio-terrorist threat from becoming a tragedy.."
Cleland proposed that Georgia, as the home of the CDC and one of the
nation's premier public health departments (staffed with six CDC-trained
epidemiologists) should be a model for the rest of the country in dealing
with a bioterrorist attack. Unlike many states, Georgia has already
had to prepare for a potential terrorist attack during the 1996 Olympic
Games.
The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University is
one of the nation's fastest growing research institutions, with more
than $232.9 million in sponsored research last year. The Center includes
schools of medicine, nursing, and public health; the Yerkes Primate
Research Center; and Emory Healthcare, the most comprehensive healthcare
system in metropolitan Atlanta. Emory University is located next door
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Emory's internationally
known public health school; the public health interests of its medical
and nursing schools; and these schools' strong partnerships with the
CDC and other public health agencies on the national, state, and local
levels, help make Atlanta the public health capital of the world.
|