The Emerald Virus

by Patrick Shea

  “I agree, I can’t believe this is moving so quickly, I feel overwhelmed already.”

  “Believe me, I know that feeling. I wish I could have given you more notice but until 48 hours ago all we had was a group of people with a bad case of the flu. Most of the deaths have occurred in the past 24 hours and I called you first thing this morning your time. Right now I wish I had called you eight or ten hours ago, but that’s water under the bridge now.”

  “I appreciate that, but do you have any recommendations for me? You’ve obviously had more time than me to think through this. Tell me what you and your team have been thinking.”

  “Jack, that’s the problem. This thing has come on us so fast that we can’t think of anything to do except to focus all efforts on the one case of immunity and see if we can create a vaccine for this thing before it spreads around the world. The question is, can we create a vaccine soon enough to make a difference? Quite frankly, I don’t see that happening. All the facts point to this being a deadly and fast moving epidemic that will immobilize the British Isles within weeks, or sooner. My only recommendation would be to send Anne Hamilton to CDC in the hope that they’ll have more time to find a fix than will we. However, I think that suggestion needs to come from your end. I’m not sure the folks here have worked through the denial stage. They might not be ready to admit that this thing is out of control. On the other hand, I think chaos is about to breakout throughout this part of the world, and if we’re going to move Anne I think it needs to be soon. Maybe I’m being parochial but I think the best chance to find a vaccine will be to let CDC have at it, and soon.”

  “Thanks Harry, that’s a good idea. I’ll float it on this end and see if we can move quickly. In the meantime take the time to put together a quick history of key points, including dates and times down to the minute where you can. See if you can get the same history from the Irish officials. Email the information to me as soon as you can. Let me know the minute you find out about any additional survivors. It might be easier to talk the British out of Anne if there are other survivors available. I’ll call you in two hours for an update and I’ll talk to Dr. McCloud between now and then. Between us we may have some recommendations for you.”

  “Thanks Jack. If I think of anything I need from your end I’ll save it for the next call. Keep your cell phone with you. I’d like to be able to contact you night or day if need be.

  “Okay Harry, I’ll talk to you in two hours, that’s 11:00 AM my time and 5:00 PM your time. I’ll call you at your office. Try to take care of yourself.”

  A final click ended the phone call and Jack reached out and turned the recorder off. As he waited for Dr. McCloud to say something, Nancy knocked lightly on the door and entered the office without waiting for a response. She put the carafe, water and the coffee service on the table between the two of them and said, “I’ve talked to Carl and he said if need be he would tie the Secretary down, and while he has not cancelled any afternoon meetings he will be prepared to do so if needed. He said to tell you that the Secretary has only routine stuff after your meeting. By the way, I’ve cleared your calendar for the day but I didn’t call Roger to cancel lunch. I thought you might want to do that. If I’m wrong let me know. I always enjoy talking with your husband. That will give me a chance to ask him why in the world you married him.”

  Jack was startled by Nancy’s light heartedness and then realized that Nancy had no idea what was occurring in Europe at the moment.

  Dr. McCloud smiled and said, “No, I’ll call him. I need to tell him a couple of things. One of them is to stop flirting with young women like my personal assistant.”

  Nancy laughed on her way out of the office and said, “Say hi for me. If you need anything else buzz me.”

  Dr. McCloud looked at Jack and said, “Okay, now I’m the one overwhelmed. Why don’t you start by telling me what you think we should or could recommend to the Secretary?”

  “Well, the 800 pound gorilla in the room is obviously closing all borders starting with international flights, closing the southern and northern borders to all foot and vehicle traffic and closing the ports to all inbound ships. While closing the borders is the safest thing to do, there is such a downside to the immediate closing of the Mexican and Canadian borders that I’m not sure our political leaders will choose to do so without more evidence. On the other hand if Harry is right about the virus, we’ll have all the evidence we need in the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours. But by then it may be too late.”

  “Work up a pros and cons chart for the two o’clock briefing with Kemper. What else?”

  “We have to consider how, and how quickly, we provide information to the general public. I think Secretary Kemper should consult with the White House and use either the White House press office or the Homeland Security press office to release the first bulletin as early as late this afternoon. My guess is that because the virus is proving to be deadly, networks and cable channels will start coverage today. It’s in the leadership’s best interest to make the notification first. We can follow up with a joint press briefing by Secretary Kemper and you later this evening, but I think the President should talk to America later today, and the sooner the better. The virus is already being discussed on the cable news and this evening it has to hit the networks. We have good data from Europe on the number of people afflicted, and we have solid science from Harry and his colleagues showing that this is an airborne filo virus. I hope Secretary Kemper agrees and makes that argument to the President. I don’t want him to be the only person in the country not talking about the problem.”

  “Jack, I agree we need to be active in providing information to the public. First it’s the right thing to do. Secondly, my hope is that we can avoid panic by doing this quickly. For the briefing use Homeland Security’s ‘The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, Response and Recovery Guide’. We did some good work on that following the Katrina disaster. As I recall it has a section on public and media relations that I liked.”

  Jack smiled as he remembered the hours he spent on helping to build that guide and winced as he remembered his hope that it would never have to be used. He said, “Good idea, I’ll make sure we use the guide as a reference. I’m also going to review and use the ‘National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza’ that the President chartered in 2005. I glanced at it briefly before I called you. Neither of these guides envisioned anything like the Emerald Virus, but they should keep us from reinventing the wheel.”

  “Good Jack. Let’s keep the briefing short and non-complex. Secretary Kemper is a big picture kind of guy; don’t bore him with too many details. We’ll need to get his approval to release information directly to the White House Press Secretary if we go that route. Secretary Kemper will have to decide if he wants the technical information about the virus to come from this office or from CDC, so make a recommendation as part of the briefing. Meet me here in my office at one-thirty and we’ll go over the briefing together, make final changes, and meet the Secretary at two o’clock.”

  “Alright. Members of my emergency response team should be in my office by now. I’ll use their best ideas and we’ll do as much research as possible between now and then. I’ll talk with Harry at eleven o’clock and again just before I meet with you at one-thirty.”

  “I think I’d like to talk to Harry before the briefing. Let him know that you and I will call him at one-thirty from my office. And Jack, I know you won’t forget this but the next couple of hours will be the last time we have to think before chaos and pressure set in. Make sure you and your team take advantage of the time, and make sure you prepare them for the firestorm that’s about to hit us head on.”

  Dr. McCloud finished this sentence with the smile Jack had expected. However, it wasn’t quite as warm as he was used to. Even she was having a difficult time maintaining her composure in the face of this catastrophe.

  Jack finished his coffee and said, “Sounds good, I’ll see you at one-thirty.” He tried to return her smile
but found that he couldn’t.

  Jack walked into his office where his assistant Irene was waiting for him. Irene was a slight woman in her late twenties with a good education from George Washington University and who was currently finishing up her graduate work at the same school. She had proven valuable in the eighteen months she had worked for Jack, and he planned to give her greater responsibilities as soon as she completed her Masters of Science degree. He realized now that she was probably going to be very involved in the current crisis.

  She said, “Jack, the team is gathered in the conference room. Nine are present and the four regional members will be on video conference. I wasn’t sure what to do so I asked for principals only. We have three other leaders out of the office altogether. If you want I can have the folks sitting in for them join the meeting.”

  “Please do that. It’s okay if they’re a couple of minutes late. Then call those three and see if you can link them in telephonically. Tell them I’m sorry to mess up a day off or vacation for them, but I want them in on this. They all carry Homeland Security cell phones for that reason. No excuses and no delays.”

  “I’ll get right on it. When will the meeting start?”

  “In about five minutes. Shortly after it starts we’ll have a five minute break and we’ll work from the end of the break until we finish the briefing for Secretary Kemper. The briefing has to be ready by one-thirty when I’ll meet with Dr. McCloud. Irene, no interruptions please, unless it’s Dr. McCloud, and please call Harry Skipperton at eleven o’clock. Send the call to me in the conference room.”

  Irene realized that Jack was dead serious and she could not figure what had changed since he’d arrived this morning light and chipper. But without questioning, she said, “Alright. What do you want to do about lunch?”

  “I don’t think we’ll worry about lunch for a while. By the way, I know this is all a mystery to you so I want you to join us for the beginning of the meeting so you’ll understand what’s going on. It won’t take long.”

  “Thank you Jack, I appreciate your including me in whatever this is.”

  Jack spent a couple of minutes getting his thoughts together and entered the conference room. The table was a typical rectangular table that would seat twelve people easily and more if they crowded in. The walls were beige with scenic pictures on two walls and portraits of current political leaders on one wall. The American flag stood in a stand in the front corner. One wall was windows that looked out on Constitution Avenue.

  The pre-meeting buzz ended abruptly as Jack took his seat at the head of the table. Without saying a word he opened his laptop and pushed the play button. Every person in the room listened intently while the recorded conversation between Jack and Harry was voiced into the conference room. When it ended Jack turned off the recorder and while the room broke into agitated conversation and a multiplicity of questions, Jack feigned reading something from the screen of his laptop. He wanted everyone in the room to get over the shock and have at least a minute or two to gather themselves.

  When Jack felt he could no longer avoid the questions he closed his laptop and looked up. Silence returned to the room. Jack said, “Okay everyone, you now know as much as Dr. McCloud and I know about this virus. I played the conversation to her a couple of minutes ago. Our most pressing job is to prepare a briefing for Dr. McCloud to give to Secretary Kemper at two o’clock this afternoon. Actually, we’ll need the briefing for my one-thirty pre-brief with Dr. McCloud.

  “Less than an hour ago I went through the same shock that all of you are now experiencing. I know it takes a couple of minutes to catch your breath.

  “The most immediate problem we’ll face in the short term is that we aren’t going to have enough time to do what will be asked of us. Of course we’ll get the most critical things done one way or another. I can’t stress enough how important it is for each of you remain calm as we sort through the available options. For now we’re going to take a five minute break. I want each of you to call your wives, husbands, significant others, parents or whomever else you feel you need to call and inform them that we are in the middle of a crisis and you will be at the mercy of your job for the next few days. My guess is that this will hit the national news this afternoon or evening, so while I don’t want you panicking your friends or families by trying to describe the virus now, they’ll realize soon enough the importance of what you’re working on. I honestly don’t know at this point what all this will entail, but I assure you, it will take your best efforts for the foreseeable future, so don’t make any promises about being home very soon or very often. When you come back, bring with you one of your best people. If we need to put more chairs in the room we’ll do so. Each of you will put together a team in your own sections so you can involve whomever you want at that point. For now I want to make sure that we don’t rely solely on one person from each section.”

  Jack didn’t mention that he was concerned that if the virus reached D.C. unchecked, that he would start losing staff, and he needed to make sure he didn’t lose knowledge at the same time.

  Jack looked around the room at the serious faces. He thought it was interesting that while the people at this meeting were men and women, young and not so young, Caucasian and minority, every face looked the same. They all looked concerned but with no sign of panic; they were all serious but no one looked desperate; they were all anxious, but anxious to get started problem solving. Jack said, “When I hired you I did so because I thought you were the best. Since then you’ve proven me right over and over. We will be amongst the leaders in the battle against the Emerald Virus. Stay grounded, focused and confident. As always, talk to me about any issue for which you feel the need, I’m here for the duration. I’ll see you back here in five minutes.”

  Jack remained seated at the head of the conference table and thought about where he and his team should start. While he was thinking, Irene returned with a cup of coffee and set it in front of him. He was about halfway through the coffee before he realized she had been there. When he did he had to smile. He knew he could trust Irene to help him out as they traveled this particular journey together. He hoped for her sake as well as his that the journey wasn’t too short.

  After ten minutes or so everyone had returned. Jack opened by reminding everyone to turn off the ringers on cell phones and that no interruptions would be allowed. He also told them that the eleven o’clock call to Harry would be put on the conference room speaker so all could listen.

  Addressing the expanded group he said “There are some issues we have to come to grips with. The most important of these is whether to recommend to Secretary Kemper that we close the borders. Jody, I want you and your team to chart the pros and cons for me. Include your best estimates of the effectiveness of this strategy. I know it won’t stop the virus in the long run but will it substantially increase the time we’ll have to find a cure? I know we’ll need input from Defense to do this but we’re going to keep this within Homeland Security until we brief the Secretary.

  “Jim, I’d like you and your folks to work with Jody on creating some computer models that will give us a visualization of the spread of the virus with and without closing our borders. We don’t have much time so please go ahead and start now. Gordon, you’ll act for Jim for the remainder of this meeting. Jody, you have the lead. I want you and Jim to start now so grab a conference room. I’d like the two of you to join us back here for Harry’s call. I’m guessing that call will take five to ten minutes. Following the call I’ll want a progress report from the two of you.” I know this will require an uncomfortable amount of speculation but we have no choice. Document the model as you build it and look at the country regionally, by population and by geography.

  “Sandy, I want you and your team to take the lead on public communications. Gene, I want you and your team to work with Sandy. We want to make recommendations on what information to send to the public, how often, using what media and for what purpose. I also want recommendations on w
hat, if any differences we want to make in how we communicate with the medical community or the business community. Start with the ‘The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, Response and Recovery Guide’ and the ‘National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza’. We’ve worked on those plans in the past so use what you can now. Cite those documents in the briefing. I want to make sure Secretary Kemper doesn’t think we’re shooting from the hip. Those plans were created over a period of months by the best people in the business, specifically for disasters. For that reason they should guide us, even though no plan takes into account an airborne filo virus.

  “I’d like Sharon and Ron to use their teams to make recommendations on what agencies should be used for what purpose. I know Homeland Security, Defense and the Centers for Disease Control will play large roles. Define the Defense role as well as our role. Include Border Patrol, Coast Guard and all the others your teams think will play a substantial role. Ron you have the lead.

  “If the Secretary and the President agree, our role will include communicating with the public on all aspects of the Emerald Virus. I want to specifically think about those immune to the virus and what we can do to make sure they have the best chance to survive in the long run. I’m not ready to write off the rest of the population, but finding a vaccine for the virus will be in the hands of the medical community. We’ll focus on the needs of a limited number of survivors for now.

  “Susan, I’ve saved you for last. I want you and your team to brainstorm this entire issue. What else can we do in terms of both prevention and preparedness?

  “I know all of you are aware of the plans that have been made to protect the American public from dangers of all kinds. Our problem is, no one has made plans for the end of the world. Regardless, as long as there’s a possibility for a vaccine, or for survivors, we owe the country our best effort.