Fairfax, VA – President Bush is expected to announce a multi-phase program for resuming smallpox vaccination in the United States as a protective measure in the event of a terrorist attack using the smallpox virus. The measure, which has been widely reported in recent months, could potentially impact all first responders across the nation and will undoubtedly become an issue for fire and emergency services departments everywhere, regardless of their type, location or community size.
预计这一宣布ment, the IAFC has built upon its prior efforts on this serious issue in establishing a new “Smallpox Vaccination Working Group” which convened for the first time Dec. 6-7, 2002 in Washington, D.C. The purpose in forming the group was to assemble a number of EMS, Hazmat and Terrorism specialists from within the fire service to interface with the various federal agencies in addressing critical issues involved in making the vaccine available to fire service personnel.
在总统明天对该措施的正式批准之后，预计新的天花疫苗接种计划将在两个初始阶段推出，如下所示：
- PHASE I will make the vaccine available, on a voluntary basis, to approximately 500,000 local public health officials, epidemiologists and hospital workers who are designated to serve as the primary investigators in the event of a smallpox outbreak. It is expected that the phase I vaccinations will be completed within 30-60 days after the President’s announcement.
- PHASE II of the vaccination program is expected to make the vaccine available, on a voluntary basis, to additional health care workers and fire, police and EMS “first responders.” It is expected that in this phase the vaccine will be made available to up to ten million people.
如果II期疫苗接种组的成员在接种疫苗之前与实际的天花患者接触，则调查团队将迅速确定他们并在暴露后接种疫苗。与大多数创伤和化学事件不同，包括天花在内的大多数生物武器的使用都需要一个孵化期。如果在暴露后4-5天内给予天花，天花疫苗接种在防止天花方面非常有效。所有已知案件的联系，包括任何火灾，EMS或公共安全人员，都将接种疫苗，以防止天花的发展。
对总统提议的计划关注的主要问题之一涉及天花疫苗本身的问题。由于这种活病毒疫苗的性质，与大多数现代疫苗相比，天花疫苗与其相关的副作用水平更高。此外，疫苗接种后的一段时间内具有传染性，并代表了与接种疫苗接种的人的潜在危害。
During the first meeting of the new IAFC working group, immediate steps were taken in an effort to address such concerns from the perspective of the first responder community. As a result, the working group identified three key issues and assigned the following actions:
- A list of questions was developed that will be sent to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) which identifies several unique characteristics of the fire service that could complicate a smallpox vaccination program;
- A motion to the IAFC Board of Directors to consider revisions to the IAFC policy on smallpox vaccination for the fire service that will be submitted for consideration at the upcoming meeting January 23-24; and
- The identification of key topics to be covered in an upcoming IAFC publication (“white paper”) that will provide fire chiefs with a reference guide on smallpox vaccination with an emphasis on administrative issues.
The new IAFC Smallpox Vaccination Working Group is comprised of the following individuals:
- Richard Brooks, Captain, Baltimore County (MD) Fire Department (IAFC HazMat Committee)
- David Fischler, Commissioner, Suffolk County (NY) Fire and Rescue (IAFC Terrorism Committee)
- Fayette County（GA）消防和紧急服务部长Jack Krakeel（IAFC EMS董事会代表）
- Russ McCallion，旧金山消防局EMS部门负责人（IAFC EMS部分）
- John Sinclair, Deputy Chief, Central Pierce (WA) Fire and Rescue (IAFC EMS Section)
- 地区卫生总监Michael Brackett博士；佐治亚州拉格朗日
有关此主题的立即参考，请访问CDC/DHHS网站http://www.bt.cdc.gov/DocumentsApp/Smallpox/RPG/index.aspor see the 2001 CDC Smallpox Preliminary Vaccination Recommendations athttp://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5010a1.htm.
