The weekend newspapers carried a remarkable account of a US security measure that seeks out potential terrorist activity by monitoring words posted on web sites:
| authorities | prevention | response | recovery |
| mitigation | emergency management | emergency response | first responder |
| initiative | evacuation | deaths | police |
| security | breach | threat | screening |
| incident | facility | hazmat | chemical spill |
| toxic | plume | radiation | radioactive |
| leak | biological infection | chemical | biological |
| epidemic | hazardous | hazardous material incident | industrial spill |
| infection | gas | anthrax | exposure |
| outbreak | contamination | exposure | virus |
| evacuation | bacteria | avian | flu |
| H5N1 | salmonella | influenza | Center for Disease Control |
| public health | toxic | tuberculosis | listeria |
| symptoms | resistant | antiviral | pandemic |
| infection | water/airborne | infrastructure | emergency |
| flood | help |
I hope the US Department of Homeland Security realise that most of these words and phrases, and indeed many of the others that appear in the larger list published in yesterday’s newspapers, can be and are used entirely legitimately in our work on this site and in the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum.
If not, we’re all doomed!