Public health officials preparing for possible attack, outbreaks at RNC in Milwaukee
Police, fire and emergency medical services are not alone in gearing up for next year's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Public health officials, too, are preparing for the event that could see as many as 50,000 people descend on Wisconsin's largest city next summer, including 5,000 delegates and alternates, and 15,000 members of the press.
About 85% of those people are expected to arrive by the night before the July 15-18 event begins, according to a recent presentation to the city's Board of Health.
City officials are expecting about 1,500 events to be held over the four days the convention is in town, with about 500 buses needed to transport delegates and guests.
The convention is considered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activities, said Nick Tomaro, emergency preparedness environmental health director at the Milwaukee Health Department.
"That's why we really are looking at an incredibly significant planning process for the security of this event," he told the Board of Health.
The preparations are taking into account everything from a potential terrorist attack or major weather event to ensuring food safety and more.
Local public health officials are among those in Milwaukee who are working with federal agencies to prepare.
Here are a few areas where planning is taking place on the public health front:
Food safety and defense
Milwaukee Health Department staff in charge of regulating food safety in retail food service and lodging locations "will be working exceptionally hard" for the convention, Tomaro said.
"They have a huge lift," he said.
Health Department staff is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which will be sending staff to Milwaukee at the end of September to review the department's setup and to tour venues, he said.
The federal agency will bring additional staff and expertise as well as boost the ranks of workers conducting food inspections and investigations of any foodborne illness outbreaks within convention venues.
Regulators' work will ramp up until it becomes a 24/7 operation beginning in the three days before the event, Tomaro told the board.
Two months before the convention, they will be inspecting and providing information to retail food establishments within a mile of the venues and delegates' hotels. Regulators will also be meeting with food and beverage contractors at the venues regarding the convention and to review facilities' layouts.
Subsequent visits to the venues will include observations of food handling practices by kitchen staff during actual events in addition to food safety consultations, he said.
Public health surveillance
Public health surveillance during an event like the RNC requires core public health work to be done within the parameters ― and sometimes perimeters ― of an event that differs significantly from the day-to-day, he said.
Tomaro told the Journal Sentinel that officials are planning so they receive on-the-ground information about any public health issues as quickly as possible.
For instance, a run on pharmacies for certain types of medications may indicate an infectious disease outbreak, he said.
Or, in the case of a previous political convention, he said, an outbreak of norovirus in one state's delegation came to light through information provided by the hotel. He said that led to a quick investigation so public health officials could isolate the delegation and avoid further spread of the virus, which is highly contagious and causes vomiting and diarrhea.
"It's trying to be innovative beyond just steady state surveillance around what is kind of an odd event because you've got delegates, you've got dignitaries, you've got the public coming to different events, and then you've got the security zones, too," he said.
The security perimeter around the downtown event has not yet been announced.
Air monitoring for bioterrorist attack
Milwaukee is among the cities that already have a BioWatch program, which Tomaro said is housed within the Department of Homeland Security and constantly monitors air quality for bioterrorist attacks.
The program's existing array in the city will be augmented for the RNC, he said.
Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Public health officials preparing for possible attack, outbreaks at RNC
