The Threat of Bioterrorism
What to do in the case of bioterrorism.
Bioterrorism -- you hear about it on the news and read about it in your local newspaper. Whether its anthrax or small pox, bioterrorism is becoming increasingly more prevalent in our world today. Though it seems we hear about it, do you really know what you should do if you find yourself in an area victimized by such a threat?
What Bioterrorism Is
In the simplest of terms, bioterrorism is the use of various manmade or naturally occurring diseases to attack human populations with the intended outcome being incapacitation or, more prevalently, death. In recent times it has become a much more sinister and technologically advanced area of warfare and terrorism.
Vaccinate
One of the first and most easily accomplished steps to defend against bioterrorism is vaccination. Vaccination affords you protection and/or better resistance to a wide variety of diseases and illness’s that could potentially be used in a bioterrorist attack. You should make sure that you are up to date on all of your shots and you should be on the lookout for any new ones that may be released to the public.
Stay Calm
Maintaining a level of calmness can actually help you in more ways than one when you are presented with the threat of bioterrorism. Calmness by nature makes you less stressed. Stress in itself can make you more vulnerable to your environment. Also, when you are calm you can better process information that may be directed at you by health care entities and other government agencies.
Be Aware
As the old maxim goes “Knowledge is power.” Just because your area may be potentially affected by a biological agent doesn’t mean that you will. Many different bioterrorism agents travel in different ways; some by air, some by water and some by contact. By being aware of which agents are potentially affecting your area you can determine your own level of threat and take action if needed. You may also be making yourself aware of preventive measures and processes that you may have otherwise missed.
Be Safe
Try to avoid taking extreme actions. Extreme actions not only can cause problems for you, but they also delay responses and remedies from being expedited quickly and it puts you and everyone around you at greater risk.
While bioterrorism is a scary subject, when approached in a calm and rational manner, it doesn’t have to be as frightful.