Senator visits bioterrorism treatment center

CREVE COEUR, Mo. -- The United States must be prepared for a bioterrorism attack and be ready to handle those who are hurt, Sen. Bill Frist said Wednesday as he campaigned for Republican Senate candidate Jim Talent.

Frist, R-Tenn., is heading up the campaign effort of Senate Republicans. He already has visited Colorado and plans campaign stops this week in Texas, Georgia, Minnesota and Iowa. Talent's race against incumbent Democrat Jean Carnahan is among the key campaigns targeted by the GOP in its bid to retake control of the Senate.

Talent and Frist, a heart and lung surgeon, toured a bioterrorism treatment site at St. John's Mercy Medical Center to assess the St. Louis area's readiness in case of a bioterrorism attack. They were shown the burn unit and a hazardous materials decontamination field unit.

The burn center at St. John's is the area's only specialized one and Missouri's largest.

"When a bioterrorism attack happens, and I believe it will happen, people will call a local facility and expect to be treated," Frist said. "I'm very, very impressed with everything here; it's a tremendous resource for the entire state and region."

Frist helped shepherd the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act -- co-sponsored by Mrs. Carnahan -- shortly after the anthrax attacks last October.

"The attacks gave us a little taste of what we knew but didn't really know in terms of risk and our vulnerabilities," Frist said.

The decontamination unit at St. John's can treat 1,000 people in an hour for general cleansing and 14 an hour for a full scrubdown, officials said.