This is important work, but it is very hard, and it is going to take time and persistence. And we need to realize that, so that we don't get discouraged. Now, the talks offered a cornucopia of principles and practical suggestions for creating organizational change or forming such systems, and I want to quickly highlight some of these, before I get to the actual projects. Jim Bentley, John Bartlett, and Laurie Garrett all cautioned on the need to pay heed to the social values and needs of the community you're trying to interact with. Hospital staff are going to need assurances that their families are taken care of, if we want them to show up at work on extra shifts.
Doctors are mostly likely to pay attention to messages from other doctors.
And we need to recognize that members of the media have jobs to do that are also important. Dual use, the importance of dual use, was mentioned many times. This is critically important in constrained budgets, and all budgets are constrained. We need to look for opportunities to build systems and find solutions to bioweapons response problems that also serve routine organizational purposes. Things usually look like a muddle in the middle when you're involved in complex projects.