U.S. Prepares for Natural and Man-Made Disasters

Morgantown, W.Va. (PROTEXT) - West Virginia University in theUnited States and six industry groups, together with the U.S.National Guard Bureau, have announced a public/privatepartnership to apply information technology to help U.S.communities and those across the globe respond to natural or man-made disasters. They have formed the International TelemedicineCollaboratory(R). Through an agreement, signed in Morgantown, W.Va., USA,Thursday, Sept. 30, they announced creation of a Virtual MedicalCampus (VMC)(R). The VMC will help prepare for the use ofbiological or chemical weapons and other man-made or naturaldisasters. It will use integrated online knowledge bases capableof providing quick response to emergencies such as anthrax orsarin gas attacks by terrorist organizations. The system will also provide rapid responses for medicalemergencies caused by natural disasters such as floods. In the United States agencies such as the Department ofDefense, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, theNational Guard and the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, among others, all need rapid access to the bestavailable medical information in emergencies, especiallyterrorism attacks. However, there is no integrated knowledgesystem for such information readily accessible today. The VMC is being established through a partnership with thefollowing: West Virginia University Electronic Data Systems ACT, Inc. COMTEL Conaway Group MPL Corp. National Guard Bureau Oracle Corp. ots Original Text Service: West VirginiaUniversity Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: RustyRussell, director of Virtual Medical Campus (USA) 304-293-5998,or frussell@wvu.edu, or Don Stamper of Electronic Data Systems(USA) 304-924-9070, or user797271@aol.com Web site:http://www.nis.wvu.edu

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