In 1918, a strain of the Influenza virus mutated to transform itself into a rampant pulmonary disease, and it became one of the three deadliest plagues ever recorded in human history. It will happen again, it may involve a strain of flu that is worse, and it will involve population densities that were not a factor in 1918. Under the current U.S. National Pandemic Influenza Plan, some 123 million Americans will not have access to a protective vaccine or antiviral drug, until the peak of the epidemic is almost past. Three Seconds Until Midnight describes other major faults and assumptions in US planning and it describes several major steps that must be taken to improve readiness for the next major lethal pandemic event.
About Dr. Steven Hatfill
Dr. Steven Hatfill is the primary author and team lead for this book. He is a specialist physician and a virologist with a military background. He holds Master’s degrees in microbial genetics, radiation biochemistry, and a Master’s degree in Medicine where he was the first to demonstrate Thalidomide as a drug for possible use in hematological malignancies.
His medical fellowships include Oxford University, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Research Council where he studied the Ebola, Marburg, and Monkeypox viruses at the US Army Institute for Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick. His background includes training and certification as a UN Weapons Inspector and over a decade of teaching the emergency medical and mass casualty response to blast and ballistic injuries.
His medical experience includes serving as the Overwinter Team Physician for the 27th South African National Antarctic Expedition, and Casualty Officer at the Conradie General Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. While at Science Applications International Corporation, he served as a course developer and senior lecturer for the Hospital Provider Section of the Nunn-Luger Domestic Preparedness Program and he developed and conducted specialized training for the US military and State Department. He has served as a guest lecturer for numerous Federal agencies. In 2015, he trained and helped to establish the first Rapid Hemorrhagic Fever Response Teams for the National Disaster Medical Unit in Kenya, Africa.
He has numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications. In 2018, he was awarded Honorary U.S. Army Parachute Wings with Bronze Star, in an exchange ceremony between the U.S. Army 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) and a former African Army Regiment. He is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at a leading Medical School in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine and the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership. He is a National Fellow of the Explorers Club and is a board member of several non-profit medical organizations.
About Robert Coullahan
Robert Coullahan is the President of Readiness Resource Group Incorporated (RRG), a veteran-owned business which he founded in 2007. He has over 40-years of technology development. In 9 years of military duty, he supported RDT&E at Redstone Arsenal and White Sands Missile Range and served in active deployments to Southeast Asia.
He holds an M.S. in Telecommunications and an M.A. in Security Management from the George Washington University and is a graduate of the University of California. He is board certified in Emergency Management (CEM) and in Security Management (CPP) with a former EMT-A Certification.
He served 20 years with SAIC where he was Senior Vice President, overseeing the Homeland Security Operation and Advanced Bioterrorism initiatives. He was the Report Manager for the Congressionally-directed National Guard Bureau CBRN Enterprise Study, and Co-Chair of the Infection Diseases Working Group with AFMIC at Fort Detrick, MD. He currently leads programs supporting FEMA, the National Guard, the DOE, National Laboratories, and critical infrastructure operators involving risk ans resilience assessment and emergency management.
About Dr. John Walsh
Dr. Walsh is Co-Director of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Program in Disaster Research and Training. His specialty fields include disaster research in emergency management, preparedness policy formulation, and human and organizational factors influencing disaster operations. He currently serves as the International Association of Emergency Mangers’ (IAEM) representative on the EMS Agenda 2050 Project. He is a founding member of the National Emergency Services Coalition on Medical Preparedness and is the current chair of IAEM’s Nominations and Credentials Committee.
He holds a Master Exercise Practitioner (MEP) certification, is a Certified Healthcare Emergency Professional (CHEP), a National Disaster Healthcare Certification in the specialty of Disaster Preparedness, Response, Mitigation and Recovery for the ANCC, and is listed on the ANCC Content Expert Registry. He is the former Assistant Director of the Academy of Counter Terrorist Education at the Louisiana State University.
Dr. John Walsh is the recipient of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Under Secretary’s Award for the Program Support, Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Science & Technology Directorate.
