Bioterrorism and our professional image.

We've all played those word association games. You know the kind. Someone says "dog," and you say first thing that comes to your mind - maybe "cat." Someone says "sun," and you say "moon." And so forth.

It has been my experience that unless the word is particularly unusual, we all tend to respond with similar answers. So let's go to an unusual word - like "bioterrorism." If someone said "bioterrorism," what would you say? Think about it.

My guess is that there would be many different responses. I would also bet that most responses would involve ideas such as fear, repulsion, horror, military, death.

Over the past several years, I've heard bioterrorism mentioned more often than in all my previous years. When the term first started showing up in discussions and articles, my personal associations prompted words such as ghastly, horrific, defenseless, catastrophic, and so forth. More recently, however, my word association has veered off in an entirely different direction. If you can believe it, I now first think of us - that is, this profession and who and what we are. Surprised?

Bioterrorism - as I shall attempt to explain here - can be our ticket to a substantially improved professional image. As bizarre and even irreverent as this idea might sound, allow me to lay out a case and ask if you agree.

Over the years, I've had countless discussions with NEHA members about how we perceive ourselves and even more discussions with nonmembers over how we are perceived by others.

Although many of our practitioners are rightfully proud of what they do, I seldom hear any of us say that we hope our children will follow in our footsteps. Our hopes for our children, or so I am told, seem to be tied up in more noble, more respected, and more visible causes.

What's so interesting is that even our most enthusiastic professionals tend to describe their work in the details of what they do as opposed to the overall mission of our profession. Members will proudly describe themselves as "professionals" when it comes to food protection or "effective" when it comes to communicating risk, or "up to speed" when it comes to using new computer technologies. The message I hear from those who seem to truly enjoy working in this field is that we prefer to focus on the specific skills we have and the specific contributions we make. Seldom do I hear articulated a more broad-based conception of who we are and what we do. Yet it is from the more broad-based conception of any profession that visibility, respect, and notions of nobility arise.

From people outside of our profession, the comment I most frequently hear is actually a question: Who are you? While many people seem to have some sense of who a restaurant inspector is and some people actually seem to know what "haz mat" means, few truly understand what this profession is all about. Again I would argue it is that larger though frequently absent understanding that makes possible visibility, respect, and notions of nobility

In short, whether the perceptions come from inside our ranks or outside the boundaries of our profession, the one point that I've come to accept is that there exists little understanding of the higher cause we serve. People know who doctors, engineers, lawyers, architects, and astronomers are. There is no similar sense of who environmental health professionals are, either out there or inside our own professional world.

So how does bioterrorism fit into all of this? My argument here is that this unspeakable terror finally associates us with a sensational issue and that, through our association with this issue, we can finally present the bigger picture that has remained elusive for so long. Moreover, the association constitutes an almost unprecedented opportunity to communicate to an attentive public just who we are, what we do, and what our noble cause is. (If this sounds like I'm yielding to the influence of an MTV world, I would only say that, like it or not, it's the world we live in and those are its terms.)

A funny thing happens when one mentions that one works in counterbioterrorism. Attention is instant. Interest is profound. Respect is automatic. Our work is suddenly conceived of in heroic dimensions. The big picture becomes clear.

A sense develops that we are the ones who can be counted on to protect the public should unseen enemies unleash terror upon us. We are the community's guardians, an army of trained sentries ready to defend our people at a moment's notice. Almost sounds like a story that Hollywood would be interested in! And Hollywood, keep in mind, is only interested in stories that sell and command the public's attention.

Images of our profession collecting air and water samples, analyzing and figuring out what the enemy attack lines are and how they can be interrupted, and conferring on how best to advise people to stay outside of harm's way suddenly make it surprisingly easy to appreciate who we are and what we do.

But wait a minute. Let's back this tape up for a second. Isn't what I've just described the very same role that we play today, despite the fact that so few people seem to know what we do or who we are? Wait a minute ... isn't this role a much more accurate reflection of our daily story than are the details to which our best and brightest often refer when pressed to explain environmental health?

Can anyone possibly disagree that we currently are that army of sentries - even without a bioterrorism incident to shine the spotlight on us? We study possible foodborne pathogens, how they work, and how they can endanger our communities - and how we can stop them. We are the people who monitor the condition of water supplies and mobilize when an invasion of threatening pathogens or chemicals breaks our line of defense and begins attacking innocent people. We are the ones who see increases in the incidence of respiratory problems and then move into action to find out where the pollutants causing these problems are coming from and how they can be stopped before more damage is done.

In short, we are the army (the defense system, the ready response team - take your pick) that is daily and vigilantly working to protect the public health regardless of which particular threat might be mobilizing for an attack. That cause - protecting our communities from threats to their health and existence - is the essence of environmental health. Moreover, that cause constitutes the core of our mission statement as a profession. In this broader context, which our recent connection with bioterrorism has enabled both us and others to see, the nobility of what we do becomes crystal clear, and the respect and visibility that accompany such a noble cause finally hit. (Maybe this is a profession we should be proud to have our children enter.)

Like any sane person, I am sickened even to think that we may someday have to deal with some horrific act of bioterrorism. Yet I also have come to see that the drama apparent in the words that we associate with bioterrorism makes this issue - and our connection with it - the attention getter of all times. Moreover, this connection provides us with a surprising opportunity to foster a much deeper understanding of who we are and what the value of our work is. I think we need to take advantage of that. If, by identifying with counterbioterrorism, we can finally get across the message about what this profession stands for, we will have done ourselves a service that will enhance our standing and effectiveness for years to come.

Word association: bioterrorism - opportunity

Note: NEHA is offering an unprecedented educational opportunity for this profession on the topic of bioterrorism (actually NBC - nuclear, biological and chemical - terrorism) at the upcoming Annual Educational Conference (AEC) in Nashville. This educational track has been carefully designed with two objectives in mind. First, we want professionals to be able to properly think through their response to such a calamity. Second, we want to equip professionals with the skills and knowledge needed for an effective response. In short, the emphasis is on the useful. The session will not be primarily oriented toward theory. It will be a practical session, designed to train attendees to organize an effective response.

Should such a calamity occur, we will without question be one of the major players involved in the defense of the community The pressure will be on us. With this special educational track at the AEC, we are trying to fulfill our mission to you - that is, to properly train you so that you can meet your responsibilities.

We urge you not to miss this unprecedented session.