Much of the attention about future terrorist attacks on the United States has centered around worries about bioterrorism. But Griffin Trotter, M.D., Ph.D., a veteran ER doctor and a bioethicist at Saint Louis University, is concerned we're not doing enough to prepare for a chemical attack.
"With a biological attack you may have several days to respond," Trotter says. "After a chemical attack you may only have a few minutes before you die.Are we prepared to handle this?"
Trotter says more work needs to be done to prepare hospital and emergency responders to deal with both kinds of attack. He is an assistant professor at Saint Louis University's Center for Health Care Ethics and an assistant professor of surgery in the emergency medicine division at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
"I'm worried about our readiness to address a really major attack," he said. "The worst case scenarios are pretty frightening."
Trotter is the editor of a column, "Bioethics and Defense," for the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. He also can discuss ethical issues for emergency responders, responsibility and liability for disaster preparations and the proper boundaries of government power in bioterror emergencies.
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