Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 37
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
Improve Communications
• Information is the ANTIDOTE for fear
• Make substance identification a priority and report to health
care providers as soon as possible
• Make inter-agency coordination a priority in planning
– Strive for “single voice ” communications with the media and the
public. When you speak, you speak for all of us!
• Teach risk communication skills to ALL responders
Module One – Observed Behaviors during Mass Chemical Exposures
37
Accurate information is the “antidote” for fear; but inaccurate or wrong information can
be “poisonous”, resulting in frustration, mistrust and bad patient care. Previous disaster
events illustrate the problem of communications during a crisis. Communications at all
levels is crucial to emergency response planning.
Accurate information and flow of information is critical to a successful emergency
response.
Plans should include contingencies for communication breakdown and problems with
inaccurate and changing information. If the described symptoms do not fit the
“identified” compound, seek verification. All early messages should stress the dynamic
or uncertain nature of such information. Emphasize some of the common mistakes made
with substance identification (e.g. hydrochloric acid for hydrofluoric acid) and the need to
compare toxidromes with stated agents.
December 2008 Version 2.0 Page 463