Interesting People mailing list archives
Ready.gov wasn't ready for SARS
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 2003 16:13:28 -0400
------ Forwarded Message From: Rich Wiggins <wiggins () msu edu> Date: Sun, 06 Apr 2003 11:07:47 -0500 (EST) To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: Ready.gov wasn't ready for SARS Dave, A lot of people are worried about SARS now. Take a look at the Ready.gov site, launched with such fanfare on February 19. The word SARS does not appear on the home page. A site search for SARS returns nothing. If you go to its Useful Links page, you find a link to the the CDC, but they take you to http://www.bt.cdc.gov. That page, in turn, is a preparedness site, with info on smallpox, VX, mustard gas, anthrax, ricin, etc. There is no mention of SARS. The Department of Homeland Security might argue that Ready.gov is about preparedness -- duct tape and all -- and it is not intended to respond in real time to events. Yet the massive fanfare about Ready.gov could lead citizens to assume it is the official place to go when a new threat arises. DHS might argue that Ready.gov is only about terrorism. But the virus doesn't care if it evolved naturally in Guangdong Province or if it was bred in a lab in Baghdad. The public is worried about the biological threat, regardless of whether it's nature or terrorism. This incident proves that Ready.gov is a static brochureware site. That it took one year and millions of dollars to build a static 11 page brochure is one thing. That there are no plans to update it as new biological threats arise is more disturbing. The incident also shows that we've compartmentalized the notion of civil defense. Terrorism threats belong to DHS; biological threats to HHS, unless they are terrorist in origin. The CDC, by the way, has done an outstanding job of getting good information up. See http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars . Clearly labeled, written in plain English, with info for travelers, the public, clinics, etc. /rich ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Ready.gov wasn't ready for SARS Dave Farber (Apr 06)