It can't be just the other guy

It has to be all of us.

This war is not over, not by a long shot.  There's not an expert that disagrees: it's going to get worse before it gets better.

I checked out some other websites today to see if there was anything like this one out there.  There is only one online training course, created by the state of Pennsylvania and even that site intentionally leaves out the tactical aspect of what we, free men and women all, can and should do to meet this threat courageously and effectively.  There are some police departments that have basic seminars, which they present to the public from a crime prevention point of view.  I've seen some of the presentations.  The problem is their premise.

Please, read on...

In February 2003, a panel was convened as part of an invitational summit on leadership during bioterrorism, titled The Public as an Asset, Not a Problem.  The goal of this meeting was to put together for government and public health authorities some essential principles of leadership that encourage the public's constructive collaboration in confronting a bioterrorist attack, based on frontline experiences with recent terrorism events and other relevant crises.  More than 160 people attended, representing senior operational decision-makers in public health and safety–including bioterrorism coordinators from 35 state and local health agencies – as well as thought leaders in medicine, public health, nursing, hospital administration, and disaster relief.  And more.

Though his comments apply to general preparation as well, panel member Dr. Lee Clarke; Professor of Sociology at Rutger's University, had the following to say about preparation for bioterrorism:

I looked long and hard at the Department of Homeland Security's documents on prevention response and countermeasures, and I'm looking for some mention of the public in there, my little organization chart… I find instead of mention of the public, what I find is references to fear and panic and the first responders.  The first responders here are always officials and organizations.  The problem is the person in the street is the first responder.  It's the passenger on the airplane. It's the teacher in the local school system.  It's your neighbors.  Those are the first responders.

It matters. It matters.

... we know the disaster response is largely a local affair, so I looked also in those documents for some reference to that.  You see some words about coordination at the local level. You look in vain for the actual people.  It matters.  Our models of how people respond in disasters, it matters if those models are wrong.  Okay.

How to involve the public.  We need to find ways to not just think about educating the public, but actually involving them in more active ways.  I have no solutions… We might engage in something like the operation alerts during civil defense days, but in ways that involve people more directly.

We are free men and women.

None of us is bound by a suicide pact which requires we stand silent if we see danger and death about to strike.

Terrorists have their online training manuals.  This is yours.

You're either trained or untrained.  Now, which are you?