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The Role of The Department of Defense in H1N1 Virus - June 25, 2009 #200
By Dr Dave McIntyre, Director Integrative Center for Homeland Security, 25 June 2009
Last week we looked at ten lessons learned from the recent Swine Flu outbreak. This week we will look at the role the Department of Defense might play if the flu comes back next winter. I will tell you more if you will give me Just a Minute for Homeland Security.
I’m Dave McIntyre, Director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M
The bottom line from a report on our pandemic response by Trust for America’s Health and the UPMC Center for Biosecurity, is that our planning and organization are fine. But we ran out of resources in the face of a mild challenge. If the next flu is more deadly, we are in big trouble.
Many people expect the military to pick up the slack. Well, the conclusion of a new report by the Congressional Research Service is “not so fast.”
The Department of Defense does have a lot of resources at its disposal, to include its own stock piles of medicine and medical supplies. But supporting civil authorities inside the United States is at least 5th on its list of priorities.
First of course is the responsibility to defend the nation and its interests overseas. This requires the bulk of the military’s attention. And by the way, it is fighting a war.
Second is assisting in performing disease surveillance world wide. This will require lots of technical and laboratory resources.
Third is assisting partner nations – many of whom depend primarily on their military in domestic emergencies. The better the counter measures overseas, the safer we are here at home.
Next is protecting and treating US military forces and their dependents. Just as emergency response personnel must be treated first if we expect them to show up for work, so the military must be protected before they can be called upon as reserves. And as with civilian responders, their families must be safe if we expect their full attention in a crisis.
Only after all this do we get to providing military support to civil authorities. This military support can still be significant, ranging from technical capabilities like medical and diagnostic services, to general support like trucks, planes, and sheer manpower. The military can even help provide leadership if the civilian leaders are incapacitated. But the resources here at the end of the tail will be limited. Most National Guard will remain under state control. And some reserve units– like medical and military police – won’t be called up because that would take doctors and police away from the civilian jobs where they are already committed. So if a serious pandemic returns, and we want additional resources – we are going to have to pay for them.
This is Dave McIntyre, Director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M, inviting you to join us again next week on Just a Minute . . . for Homeland Security.