Concerns of the Nurses on Agroterrorism, Essay Example

Agro-terrorism describes intentional harm to an agricultural crop or vandalism of an agricultural/animal-related facility (Agro-terrorism, 2010.) Such activities could include animal-rights activists who set free farm animals or laboratory animals; disgruntled former or current employees who put poison in milk tanks or feed it to animals; theft of agricultural products; and vandalizing machinery or chemicals as well as agricultural sites. This paper will discuss the role that nurses and other public health officials potentially play in agro-terrorism.

Terrorists who are intent on damaging or destroying the US economy can easily focus on the middle of the country for easy targets since farms and ranches are open spaces and are usually not protected. Most state and local law enforcement officials are unequipped to manage such attacks, both from a financial and strategic perspective. As a result, public health officials, including nurses, are the logical leaders for responding to an attack on the food supplies (Schmitt, 2007.) Nurses could play a crucial role in developing interdisciplinary groups that would involve experts from various fields including public health, human health, and animal health communities; their role would be to prioritize improvement efforts in the area of preventing and responding to agro-terrorism (Crutchley, 2007.) The goal of the nurses in such a group would be to establish communication networks and educational standards to identify weaknesses in preparedness as well as to enable actions aimed at correcting such weaknesses.

Nurses could play an instrumental role in conducting continuing education workshops which address terrorism preparedness; in addition, they might evaluate their methods of knowledge acquisition, as well as changes in their perceptions and beliefs about such events (Wetta-Hall, 2006.) As crucial members of public health official teams, in the event of agro-terrorism nurses can serve as crucial partners in coordinating teamwork, enhancing communication, and addressing concrete medical needs that are the result of such an attack.

References

Agro-Terrorism. (2010, October 25). Retrieved December 8, 2012, from Scott County: http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/planning/pub/hazmit/Working%20Documents/20101025%20Hazard%20Profiles%2010-25-10.pdf

Crutchley, T., Rodgers, J., Whiteside, H., Vanier, M., Terndrup, T.  (2007). Agro Terrorism: Where Are We in the Ongoing War on Terrorism? Journal of Food Protection, 791-804.

Schmitt, G. (2007, June). Agro Terrorism: Why We Are Not Ready: A Look at the Role of Law Enforcement. Retrieved December 8, 2012, from National Institute of Justice:http://www.nij.gov/journals/257/agroterrorism.html

Wetta-Hall, R., Fredrickson, D., Ablah, E., Cook, D., Molgaard, C.  (2006). Knowing Who Your Partners Are: Terrorism-Preparedness Training for Nurses. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing , 106-112.