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Terrorism, security and medical specialists who have dealt first-hand with highly publicized terrorist attacks and major disasters such as the Madrid train and London subway bombings will share notes with their U.S. counterparts on how to best respond to such incidents at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s seventh annual International Conference on Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness.

Among the speakers at the day-long event for health-care and emergency response professionals will be the chief inspector of the London Police Department, the chief of emergency medicine at the Hospital Gregorio Maranon in Madrid, and representatives of the Oklahoma City Emergency Medical Services Authority, the sheriff’s office of Arapahoe County, Colorado, who dealt with the Columbine High School shooting and the U.S. Public Health Services (USPHS), which was involved in the anthrax attacks in Washington, D.C.

The conference will be held Wednesday, Nov.16, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Convention Center at 12th and Arch streets, Philadelphia.

The conference is sponsored by Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and with support from the Centers for Disease Control and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is a designated Center for Public Health Preparedness by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is funded by HRSA to provide bioterrorism training and education for the nation’s health professionals.

The conference is intended to give domestic and international terrorism and health-care professionals the opportunity to share information and provide better insight on how to prepare and respond to emergencies stemming from terrorism and natural disasters, said Emergency Medicine Physician Edward H. Jasper, M.D., the conference’s program director and director of the Center for Bioterrorism and Disaster Preparedness at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

“We’re going to hear first-hand accounts of response to major incidents from experts who have actually had to respond to disasters,” said Dr. Jasper, clinical assistant professor of Emergency Medicine, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. “This kind of information is invaluable to those of us involved in emergency preparedness and response.”

Some of the topics to be addressed will be:

• Identifying current domestic and international terroristic threats related to pre-hospital and hospital preparedness, bioterrorism and security issues
• Effective and appropriate strategies for managing selected forms of terrorism and natural disaster
• Identifying factors associated with the safety and security of various facilities from the threat of terrorism

Speakers for the day-long conference include:

• Kevan McCrone, chief inspector, London Police
• F. Javier Ortiz-Alonzo, M.D., chief, Emergency Medicine, Hospital Gregorio Maranon in Madrid
• Mike Hutchcroft, Oklahoma City Bomb Squad
• Joseph Dempsey, sergeant, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado.
• William C. Patrick, III, former chief, product development, discontinued U.S. Army Bioweapons Program

The Arthur D. Blackshaw Award for Courage will also be presented at a midday luncheon during the conference. The award is named after the late Arthur D.

Blackshaw Jr., CRNA, CD, Jefferson University Hospital’s bio-terrorism expert. Previous winners have included United States Representative Curt Weldon; Chief Ralph Halper, regional director of Emergency Medical Services of the Philadelphia Fire Department and Esther Chernak, M.D., MPH, medical specialist in the division of Disease Control, Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

For more information or to register, go to  http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/bioterrorism or call 1-800-JEFF-NOW.