SENATOR MURPHY ANNOUNCES HUDSON VALLEY'S FIRST CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
Center Will Focus on Disaster Preparedness, Biological & Chemical Threats
Chemical and biological terrorism is a real, ever-present threat. Rapid advances in genetic engineering have opened the door for small terrorism groups to tailor and easily turn biological viruses into weapons. Test tube terrorism has sadly become part of the norm. On March 20, 1995 in Japan, members of a cult movement released sarin in the Tokyo subway system during rush hour, killing 12 people, severely injuring 50 and causing temporary vision problems for nearly 5,000 others. On September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 attacks, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news offices and two U.S. Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others with another 30,000 forced to undergo treatment.
One of Senator Terrence Murphy's many responsibilities is the safety and well-being of the more than 300,000 people he represents in the 40th Senate District. New York Medical College (NYMC) has answered the threat and taken a giant leap toward making the lives of New Yorkers safer by creating a new Center of Excellence in Precision Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters. The Center is the first of its kind in the Mid-Hudson Region.
This unique center will combine New York Medical College's globally recognized assets in disaster medicine and medical countermeasures with individualized precision medical strategies against biological and chemical threats and seek to translate research findings in order to protect Americans from the threat of catastrophic bioterrorism and man-made disasters. The College's researchers and physicians contribute expertise and leadership in preventing, diagnosing and treating public health threats specific to biological and chemical terrorism, and public health emergencies.
"The breadth and reach of bioterrorism is terrifying. It is not if it is going to happen, but when. A bioterrorist can take something common that we come in contact with during the course of a day, such as the door handle of a cab, a fork, even a handshake, and turn it into a weapon," said Senator Murphy. "This Center gives us a vitally needed local resource to fight terrorism, and potentially protect the lives of first responders and our families."
This Center will help bring more federal grants to New York. NYMC's Center for Disaster Medicine (CDM) already has pilot funding from the Department of Defense (DOD) to translate emergency medical applications and lessons from the battlefield to civilian emergency medical and law enforcement agencies. Led by a post-911 veteran and former regional commanding officer in the National Response Framework's ESF-8, CDM has used this federal funding to equip first responders with the most current, evidence-based training and subject matter expertise to provide medical care in the most severe and dynamic environments. CDM has installed a unique "austere medicine" training facility that conducts sensory-immersion training to first responders - particularly SWAT teams and their medical components. Such training is unavailable anywhere in the United States outside of military facilities. This training specifically focuses on scenarios involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) preparation and deployment. DOD is currently reviewing a next-phase application for $1.5 million to expand this program.
New York State has established and currently supports 10 Centers of Excellence throughout the State. Three such centers exist in Rochester, two each in Buffalo and Long Island, and one in Syracuse, Albany and Binghamton. Prior to the opening of this Center in Valhalla, the Hudson Valley had no such designation.