LOS ANGELES: Hospitals Prepare for Democratic National Convention
In preparation for the Democratic National Convention next month in Los Angeles, federal agents have asked local hospitals to be ready to respond to any potential biological terrorist activities, the AP/Orange County Register reports. "We will be on super-alert mode for the convention. We're not at all equipped to handle biochemical terrorist threats. But that doesn't mean it can't be handled," Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Healthcare Association of Southern California, said. Hospitals will increase stockpiles of antidotes and will undergo decontamination training, while health care facilities located near the Staples Center, where the convention will be held, will also purchase special equipment to protect their staffs. The CDC will send personnel to Los Angeles to handle any potential bioterrorist attack and prepare an emergency management plan to coordinate governmental agencies' responses. Protest groups criticize the moves, saying that hospital administrators are overreacting and that law enforcement's estimates of 50,000 protesters are inflated. "The idea that protesters have any plans to be involved in any terrorist activity is just outrageous and really discourages people from exercising their First Amendment rights," Margaret Prescod, a protest spokesperson, said (AP/Orange County Register, 7/24).
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