ORONO – Experts from the United States and Canada discussed in an Internet conference Wednesday how government agencies at every level can communicate effectively in the event of a bioterrorist attack.

Examining the concept of “interoperability,” or the ability of agencies to communicate with each other, the experts stressed that the creation of an interoperable communication infrastructure was a long-term process.

“Preparedness is a marathon, not a sprint,” Craig Deatley, deputy director of the Institute for Public Health Emergency Preparedness, said.

The “Biodefense, Responding to Bioterrorism and Interoperability” conference was presented by the University of Maine’s Homeland Security Lab.

“Interoperability is the ability for a first responder to talk to whoever he needs to when he needs to and to have the authorization to do so,” David Boyd, the opening speaker, explained.

Boyd is director of SAFECOM, a program within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for creating a national interoperable communication system so agencies of all kinds, whether local, federal, medical or law enforcement, can respond to a terrorist attack.

“We believe you have to start at the local level and work up to make sure things actually work,” he said.

“I think we’ve identified a need to have a higher level of interoperability in Maine,” Olan Johnston, coordinator of the Maine Citizen Corps, said. “I know it doesn’t exist at some levels. … We are too rural and too diverse not to have interoperability systems.”

Other speakers discussed the possibility of a bioterrorist attack and how it can be prevented and reacted to, if necessary.

“[A bioterrorist attack] is a low-probability event with catastrophic implications,” Peter Brown, conference organizer and moderator, said. Brown also is an adviser to the Maine Emergency Management agency.

Rima Styra compared a bioterrorist attack to her experience of combating the SARS outbreak in Toronto, Ontario.

Jacqueline R. Scott, senior attorney at the Center for Sustainable Health Outreach in Washington, D.C., discussed how a bioterrorist attack could be made worse by the spread of disease through what she called “vulnerable populations.”

Scott used the term to describe the uninsured, the elderly, and the socially and economically disenfranchised. These groups are more likely to get infected in a bioterrorist attack than those with proper access to health care and support services, the attorney noted.

“A one-size-fits-all approach to planning may not be sufficient for the vulnerable populations that fall through the cracks,” Scott said. “What affects this population affects all of us.”

The conference was open for viewing in real time on the UM Homeland Security Lab Web site.