Background
BioWatch is a United States Federal Government program to prepare state and local governments to prepare a response for and to provide detection of the release of pathogens into the air as part of a terrorist attack on major American cities. more than 30 major metropolitan areas nationwide. The BioWatch program was created in 2001 in response to the increased threat of bioterrorism sparked by the terrorist attacks on Sept 11 2001 and was announced in President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address of 2003.
The program, described as "the nation's first early warning network of sensors to detect biological attack" operates via a system of collectors located within Selected cities Nationwide.
Use case
Collect and communicate BioWatch information combined with supporting information such as impact and indicators from other sources to enhance decision making and threat response.
Actors
Important initial (level 1) Actors include: local public health officials; local emergency managers (Cal OES); local department of food and agriculture; local fusion center representative; FBI-WMD coordinator; and potentially others who are members of the BioWatch advisory committee.
Important initial (level 2) Actors include: local and state, public health officials; local and state, emergency managers (Cal OES); local and state department of food and agriculture; fire and local and state police departments; state Homeland Security Advisor (which in California is the Director of Cal OES); state fusion centers (intelligence); Department of Homeland Security (Office of Health Affairs (BioWatch) and National Biosurveillance Integration Center); FBI-WMD coordinator(s); and potentially others
Important Actors (level 3) if this is declared an event that needs a public health response: local and state, public health officials; local and state, emergency managers (Cal OES); local and state department of food and agriculture; local, state, and federal EPA; fire and local and state police departments; state Governor; state Homeland Security Advisor (which in California is the Director of Cal OES); neighboring state agencies; National Guard; regional and state fusion centers (intelligence); Department of Homeland Security (FEMA, Office of Health Affairs (BioWatch), National Biosurveillance Integration Center, Intelligence and Analysis); FBI; Health and Human Services (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response); White House; and others.
Scenario
A scenario is the risk of and subsequent fictitious biological attack in Selina County, CA is used to illustrate and further refine this use case. The scenario is detailed in this document (DOC, PDF)