The 118th annual Army vs. Navy football game is scheduled to occur on Saturday, December 9, 2017 at 3:00pm at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Those attending the event will begin to arrive in the Philadelphia area on Friday, December 8th. Given the very public nature of this game and the military profile of those in attendance, federal, state and local agencies are collaborating to ensure adequate safety and security of both those attending the game and the general public. At this time, the City of Philadelphia has received no information regarding threats specific to this event. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) recommends that healthcare facilities review their emergency response and disaster preparedness plans before this weekend because of the heightened potential for terrorism. Specific recommendations include:
- Evaluate facilities and personnel to ensure safety and security.
- Ensure that appropriate staff understand their roles in an emergency and communications protocols.
- Update clinical providers on biological, chemical, and radiological agents.
- Information for clinical management and protection of healthcare workers is attached and available online at https://hip.phila.gov.
- Additional resources on these threats may be found at http://emergency.cdc.gov/bioterrorism/ and www.atsdr.cdc.gov.
- Review procedures that address medical treatment of mass casualties, including crush injuries, decontamination protocols, the use of personal protective equipment and triage protocols.
- Review procedures that address medical treatment of blast and bombing injuries.
- Information can be found at http://emergency.cdc.gov/masscasualties/blastinjuryfacts.asp.
PDPH reviews data daily from multiple sources to facilitate the recognition of disease outbreaks. However, PDPH relies on clinicians to report by telephone conditions that require immediate notification, including any outbreak, unusual presentation, or cluster of disease. Indicators of naturally occurring outbreaks or possible biological terrorism are:
- An unusual temporal or geographic clustering of illness (e.g., persons who attended the same public event or gathering).
- Increase in serious lower respiratory illness with negative tests for common bacteria and viruses.
- Patients presenting with clinical signs and symptoms that suggest an infectious disease outbreak (e.g., >2 persons presenting with an unexplained febrile illness associated with sepsis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, or rash or a botulism-like syndrome with flaccid muscle paralysis, especially if occurring in otherwise healthy persons).
- An unusual age distribution for common diseases (e.g., an increase in chickenpox-like illness in adult patients).
- Single cases of disease due to uncommon, non-indigenous agents (e.g., anthrax, plague, tularemia) in patients with no history suggesting exposure
- Large number of cases of acute flaccid paralysis with prominent bulbar palsies, suggestive of a release of botulinum toxin.
Call PDPH to report conditions requiring immediate notification, or to obtain public health consultation. PDPH will also facilitate diagnostic testing requiring public health laboratory services.
- During normal business hours, call 215-685-6740.
- After business hours, call 215-686-4514 and ask to speak with the on-call person for Disease Control.
Originally released by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health on December 4, 2017
