How to Lead During Bioattacks with the Public’s Trust and Help

Published by the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), this interactive manual provides decision-makers with practical advice on how to handle the dilemmas that can arise in a public health emergency. It aims to give leaders problem-solving strategies for engaging the public during bioattacks and epidemics.

The guidebook presents recommendations from an expert Working Group on 'Governance Dilemmas' in Bioterrorism Response from February 2003-February 2004. The group was convened by the Center for Biosecurity of the UPMC and included political and public health leaders, disaster experts, community leaders, news media, public affairs and risk communication experts. In March 2004, the Working Group published a consensus statement entitled "Leading during Bioattacks and Epidemics with the Public's Trust and Help" in the peer-reviewed journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism 2004;2(1):25-40.

This manual is the executive summary of the 2004 Working Group consensus statement. It is designed to advise leaders of four specific issues that should be considered in bioterrorism and epidemic response planning:

• What defines "leadership" during an epidemic or biological attack?
• Why do bioattacks present special challenges and high-stakes decisions for leaders?
• What leadership dilemmas may arise in a deliberate epidemic, and how might they be averted?
• What situations splinter the social trust necessary to cope with health crises, and how might they be diffused?

The handbook gives political leaders, health officials, and the public a common language and purpose for handling specific types of emergencies.

Click here for this resource online.

Click here for the consensus statement "Leading during Bioattacks and Epidemics with the Public's Trust and Help".