Ponder, prepare, and protect

Medical Laboratory Observer, June, 2005 by Carren Bersch

My patter often alludes to my fondness for particularly unique personalities--Eric Hoffer is one. While reading Dr. Bill Nauschuetz' bioterror article, I was reminded of Hoffer. He read German and English by age five and inexplicably went blind at seven. By 15, his sight mysteriously returned; subsequently, he spent his free time reading at public libraries. His last job as a longshoreman in San Francisco followed a lifetime of migrant farm work and gold prospecting. At 50, Hoffer began publishing his original thoughts on the psychological roots of totalitarian "madhouses."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

My introduction to his books came in 1963 via my father's copy of The True Believer, which did not then "ring bells." Global terrorist atrocities in just the last few years, however, make his words echo: "People haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance ... and [the true believer] is ready to sacrifice his life."

In my lifetime, our attention has been diverted from regional smog warnings to color-coded federal alerts, rescinded only after we hold our breath until whatever potential terrorist threat passes. If Hoffer (d. 1983) could witness the increase in fanatic-based terrorism, would he amend his comment, "You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you"?

Today, we are examining our enemies' means of frightening us through a microscope. Robin Stombler writes in "Washington Report" about the ongoing legislative struggle to provide the means by which we can educate a new generation of med lab techs to adequately confront bioterror and other menacing public health concerns.

As Dr. Nauschuetz points out, international incidents show an alarming availability of possible bioterror agents: anthrax, ricin, sarin gas, botulinum toxin, Yersinia pestis, Vibrio cholerae, Coxiella burnetii, Ebola virus, Francisella tularensis, and Brucella spp. Care to ponder what the enemy fears when his "means" can be a terrifying public health threat? My personal opinion? Act now; ponder later.

Recently, the news media related events involving U.S. public health entities: the distribution of proficiency test kits mistakenly containing a rare H2N2 influenza virus to thousands of labs worldwide, and the Pentagon anthrax "scare," which exposed gaps between the military's biohazard-handling procedures and those of the rest of the federal government. Each sent a chill up the national spine, pointing out the grave necessity for assiduity in national bioterror preparedness. Readiness is a shared responsibility. Our goal professionally--and personally--must be to lay the groundwork as best we can for whatever threats are lobbed at us from whatever corner of the globe.

Bill Nauschuetz had his colleague, Col. John D. Grabenstein, RPh, PhD, the deputy director of the Military Vaccine Agency, send me the Baader-Meinhof Gang (German terrorist group active from 1968 to 1977) philosophy (italics added for emphasis): "When we have a free path, we go forward. If we meet an obstacle, we go around it. If the objective cannot be overcome, we retreat. When the enemy is unprepared, we surprise him. If he is alert, we leave him alone."

The best way to stay alert and be prepared for potential attacks by our enemies is--if I may twist Hoffer's words a bit--to be motivated by the purposefulness of our lives ... to try to find a new content not only by dedicating ourselves to a holy cause but also by embracing a fanatical optimistic unity ... and to be ready to protect and preserve our lives and the lives of others.

Carren Bersch

cbersch@nelsonpub.com