Army issuing antidote

This story was published Thu, May 16, 2002

By Karen Zacharias
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON -- The Army has pledged to provide enough nerve agent antidote to Washington and Oregon hospitals to treat 900 victims.

The pledge was issued in response to a request from the Oregon Department of Public Health Systems. Health officials are concerned about the threat posed by a possible release of lethal agents from the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

"We should have atropine and 2-PAM within the next two weeks," said Bryan Hopkins, emergency manager for Oregon Public Health.

Hopkins credited Denzel Fisher, with the Office of Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, for securing the much-needed antidote. Fisher recently notified Hopkins that he has placed a high priority order for the antidote.

Atropine is used primarily to treat symptoms of nerve agent exposure. And the 2-PAM Chloride is used to halt the body's reaction, explained Ken Franz, emergency manager for Hermiston's Good Shepherd Medical Center.

Atropine is relatively inexpensive -- about 40 cents a vial. But 2-PAM runs about $100 per dose.

The Army previously had provided atropine to Good Shepherd and Kadlec Medical Center in Richland. But the drug was only for depot workers, not members of the public exposed to deadly chemical agents.

And the much of the Army's atropine at Good Shepherd had expired, some by as much as 12 years.

Milo Straus is program manager for the Chemical Stockpile Preparedness Program for the Washington Department of Health. Straus said the Army's move will save the health department $40,000.

"I've requested enough to take care of 500 contaminated people for a 24-hour period," Straus said.

The antidote will be divvied up among five Washington hospitals -- Kadlec, Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco, Kennewick General Hospital, Prosser Memorial Hospital and St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Straus said.

And three Oregon hospitals will get the atropine and 2-PAM. Good Shepherd in Hermiston will receive enough to treat 200 peoplen and St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton could treat 150. The remaining 50 doses will be at Pioneer Hospital in Heppner.

"In Oregon alone, we will save $150,000 over the course of the program," Hopkins said.

After they discovered the Army's store at Good Shepherd was expired, Oregon's health department purchased additional atropine.

Franz said he couldn't understand why the Army had failed to provide the atropine. "At 40 cents a vial, the cost is chicken feed," he said.

Thanks to the state health department Franz said he's got enough atropine now to treat the hospital's maximum capacity of 200 people in event of a chemical release.

But he said so far the Army has only given him enough 2-PAM for 12 dosages, and half those are expired.

When told of the Army's pledge to provide additional drugs, Franz said: "That's great. I'll be glad to get it."

 

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