D.C. Department of Health Conducts Bioterrorism Preparedness Exercise; 'Result Show Significant Progress In The District's Emergency Response', Says CNA Corporation 11/14/2003
From: Noel L. Gerson of the CNA Corporation, 703-824-2758 or gersonn@cna.org WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 -- The District of Columbia Department of Health (DOH) received preliminary results from its recent bioterrorism exercise that shows improvement in its emergency response capability. The exercise tested the Department of Health's emergency response systems, which are used to respond to biological, chemical, radiological or natural disaster. "We are very pleased with the progress DOH has made since September 11, 2001 and the subsequent anthrax attack," stated James A. Buford, director, Department of Health. "These results signal significant improvement in our emergency health response. Our ability to successfully manage a health emergency was confirmed during both Hurricane Isabel and the recent mercury spill at Ballou Senior High School." The District of Columbia conducted the exercise in partnership with The CNA Corporation (CNAC) -- a non-profit research and analysis organization that specializes in exercise planning and evaluation. The DOH's priority and responsibility is to protect the health and safety of residents of the District. The purpose of this exercise was part of DOH's on-going efforts to plan and to be ever-prepared for a public health emergency. The exercise helped DOH determine how it would dispense medications in the very challenging situation of a contagious epidemic, where speed is of the essence. The exercise measured how many people could be treated at a dispensing center in the event of a large-scale emergency. CNAC analysts were on-site to collect data on the time it took for patients to complete movement through a mock dispensing center. "We developed and implemented a rather novel data collection and evaluation plan that allows for very specific information about patient throughput and clinic distribution capacity to be collected," said Steve Rickman, CNAC director of Homeland Security. Volunteers served as patients, arriving at the center with mock symptoms after a national release of plague by a terrorist group. The center was able to treat approximately 225 patients over the course of three and a half hours. One exercise goal was to help train DOH staff and establish the number and types of DOH staff required to meet the demand. A secondary goal was to test dispensing site procedures and optimize the seven-step DOH dispensing plan. The final analysis will enable the health planners to make decisions about resource allocation and provide information about clinic workload capacity in the event of a public health emergency. CNAC has conducted objective research and analysis since 1942. Research and analysis focuses on a wide range of public policy issues including national security, homeland security, health, education, transportation and other issues. For additional information about DOH's emergency response, please contact 202-671-0733, or visit http://www.bioterrorism.dc.gov. For additional information about CNAC please contact 703-824-2758, or visit http://www.cna.org |