What is the time-line for Fort Detrick Officials to notify Frederick County first-responders when there is an abnormal event or incident on the Fort Detrick campus?

At Department of Defense facilities, a biological mishap is defined as an event in which the failure of laboratory facilities, equipment, or procedures appropriate to the level of potential pathogenicity of an infectious agent or toxin may allow the unintentional, potential exposure of humans or the laboratory environment to that agent.  All mishaps involving biological select agents and toxins (BSAT) will be reported to CDC or APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA and will be reported concurrently to the first general officer (or equivalent) in the mishap reporting chain. If the facility is a tenant on an installation, the mishap will also be reported to the garrison commander. The first general officer (or equivalent) receiving the report will forward it up the chain of command to the Office of the Director of Army Safety (ODASAF).  Upon discovery of a non-BSAT occupational exposure or release of a non-BSAT outside of the laboratory, an individual or entity must immediately notify the first general officer (or equivalent) in the mishap reporting chain (DA PAM 395-69).  There is no information or policy regarding release of any of the mishap information to the community.

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1. What is a containment lab?
2. What do the Bio-safety level designations mean?
3. What Containment labs operate in Frederick County?
4. What is the National Interagency Biodefense Campus (NIBC)?
5. What disease-causing organisms do the labs in Frederick County work on?
6. What is a select agent and how are they controlled?
7. Do the labs in Frederick County conduct research on ‘weaponized’ pathogens and/or conduct classified research?
8. Why would any laboratory choose to work with select agents?
9. Who operates the labs?
10. Where are the BSL-3 and BSL-4 containment labs located in Frederick County?
11. Why are these labs in Frederick County and not somewhere else?
12. What are the potential ways for microbes to escape from a lab, and how do the labs prevent this from happening?
13. What agencies oversee operations to ensure safety?
14. How often are the labs inspected?
15. How did the presentations at the CLCAC Meeting by Emergency and Health Services personnel relate to the charted mission of the CLCAC regarding public health and safety of the Frederick community?
16. What is the time-line for Fort Detrick Officials to notify Frederick County first-responders when there is an abnormal event or incident on the Fort Detrick campus?
17. What is the County action plan for public notification and potential evacuation when Fort Detrick reports the release of an infectious material/toxin/contaminated animal or specimen into the Community
18. What are the notification procedures in the event of a release of an infectious material(s) or toxin or contaminated animal or specimen (“materials") at a Fort Detrick facility?
19. Is there a permanent real-time meteorological monitoring station on the Fort Detrick campus which supports an abnormal event or incident on the Fort Detrick campus?
20. What is the difference between biological material and nuclear material?
21. How did the presentations at the CLCAC Meeting by Emergency Management and Health Services personnel relate to the charted mission of the CLCAC regarding County Public Health and Safety?