http://www.dividingline.com/private/Terr/Terrorism_FewHospitalsReady.shtml
Hospitals across the country are scrambling to prepare for terrorist attacks, anticipating situations that seemed like science fiction nightmares before Sept. 11. But public health experts and hospital industry officials say that many hospitals are far from ready for a surge of patients in the event of a major attack.
Fifteen years of cost-cutting under managed care has shrunk emergency room capacity, sharply cut inventories of drugs and equipment and eliminated thousands of hospital beds. A nationwide shortage of nurses and pharmacists would make it even harder for communities to respond quickly to a major disaster....
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"Hospitals are working at a bare minimum to meet the needs of patients," said Dr. Mohammad N. Akhter, executive director of the American Public Health Association. "If there was a bioterrorist attack, the number of patients would overwhelm our system." "If they use a contagious agent like smallpox, we will not have isolation facilities to quarantine people," he said. "If there's a major attack that would require more than 500 beds, no community has that number of extra beds available."
Yes I think you're correct, EH.