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Associated Press Dr. Tom Higgins talks to a patient. He calls the smallpox vaccine "probably safer than most drugs we use on a daily basis."

LAS VEGAS - In a town known for high-stakes gambling, Suzanne Lau is ready to risk a small chance of injury and even death to be vaccinated against smallpox.

A nurse at one of the city's busiest emergency rooms, she probably will be among the first Americans in three decades to be offered the vaccine. She shows none of the angst that has consumed federal officials now completing vaccination plans for the nation.

"It's what you do. It's part of the risk of the job," she said. "We're here to take care of the patients. That's the bottom line."

The government is preparing for the possibility of a bioterror attack that would use smallpox, a deadly and incurable virus, but President Bush has yet to say who will be offered the vaccine.

The plan being considered would offer the inoculation first to those most likely to come in contact with a contagious smallpox patient - people assigned to special smallpox response teams in each state, and those who work in hospital emergency rooms. They expect about a half-million vaccinations during this first stage.

The plan would put emergency rooms such as University Medical Center's at the forefront of that readiness effort. If there were to be an attack, doctors at the Las Vegas facility also would be responsible for spotting smallpox, a disease that has not been seen in this country for half a century.

For now, the issue is vaccination.

The government soon will undertake an education campaign to ensure that people understand the risks of the vaccine, which is more dangerous than any other.

In the 1960s, 15 out of every million people being vaccinated for the first time faced life-threatening complications, and one or two of those 15 died. Side effects included horrible rashes and brain-destroying diseases.

Some people who came into close contact with those vaccinated also got sick when the live virus used in the shot escaped and touched them.

But most workers at the University Medical Center emergency room voice little concern and say smallpox is much more to be feared than the vaccine.

Nurse Beth Leoni added, "I've seen pictures of smallpox, and it scared the hell out of me."

Lau says she would send her 6-year-old son to live with his grandparents during the days after her inoculation, just to be sure he is not exposed.

Hearing the statistics about side effects, Dr. Tom Higgins is nonchalant. "That's probably safer than most drugs we use on a daily basis," he said.