ABSTRACT
The obstacles confronted by hospitals in planning for bioterrorist attack are truly daunting. For reasons of financial survival, U.S. hospitals typically seek to operate with few empty inpatient beds; censuses tend to be high particularly in large urban hospitals. Supplies are often ordered on an “as needed” basis in an attempt to control costs. Physicians at voluntary and public hospitals often are not full-time employees and may, in fact, admit patients to and serve on administrative and planning committees of several hospitals within a large geographical area. Teaching hospitals often rely heavily on resident house staff to provide direct patient care. These young physicians, qualified as they may be, may have little or no training in responding to the circumstances they would face in a biological attack.
