Drill Tests Terror Response
By Andrew Dunn, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.
Jul. 12–DURHAM — Though a test of Durham County’s public health emergency response went smoothly Wednesday, it was not perfect.
Several hundred people were fictionally medicated in a large-scale test of Durham County’s response to a public health emergency. In this case, it was a simulated anthrax attack at Northgate Mall, and the results were monitored through a company hired by the state.
The event, at Shepard Middle School, was classified a regional mass-dispensing exercise used to test the city, county, state and federal response plan for managing medications from the Strategic National Stockpile.
Responses were timed by the Department of Health, but the results are not yet available to the public.
The state will receive a written report from the exercise’s evaluators. They are representatives from a state-contracted company, EnviroSafe Consulting and Investigations, Inc.
But initial comments were available and given to the Health Department at a debriefing after the exercise.
“Not to sound like I am tooting their horn, but there was nothing major,” said EnviroSafe special projects director Will Moorhead, who was in charge of the five evaluators on the scene. “It was mostly a succession of minor things.”
These include how signs are hung, what workers wear to identify themselves and what radio channels are used. Moorhead said that the main work of writing a response plan and practicing it is now complete.
“If something happened today, we could take care of it,” public information officer Gayle Harris said. “But we will be tweaking our plan.”
The changes, Harris said, will be minor, including changing how many forms are made available and where they are located.
It was difficult to find the entrance to the maze-like path to treatment, and though signs were also in Spanish, a shortage of Spanish-speakers caused delays for some.
Harris said interpreters were available by radio and posted in several locations, though she does not know how many there are.
And others were overwhelmed by the number, and variety, of responders.
“You’ve got so many people giving instructions,” said participant Pam Thompson, who works in the dental division of the county Health Department. “But for as many people as they had, it went pretty fast.”
That confusion was something identified by both the evaluators and the Health Department.
The event brought together Durham sheriff’s deputies, police and fire departments, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Also involved were public health staff from Alamance, Dare, Franklin, Granville, Person, Orange, Rockingham and Wake counties.
“If biological agents are released into this community, it is the department’s goal to have a plan that will protect the health and safety of Durham County residents by minimizing the spread of infectious diseases, controlling the extent of illness, and limiting or preventing death,” Health Director Brian Letourneau stated in a press release.
About 200 volunteer workers total were present, said Laverne Flythe from the Wake County Health Department.
The process began by filling out an information form with contact information and medication history.
“Patients” then watched a video from bioterrorism coordinator Nancy Skaletski that described the scenario, the effects of anthrax (the disease can harm the skin, lungs and digestive system) and the treatment to be administered.
The forms were reviewed and participants sorted into an “express” line and a “complex medical screening” line, for those assigned a special medical condition.
Then participants could pick up the “medication” they or family members needed. Before checkout, patients were asked to repeat how often the medicine was to be taken.
The American Red Cross was also set up, handing out sandwiches (real ones) and drinks.
Toby Barfield, manager of the Central North Carolina Chapter of the Red Cross, said in an actual emergency his organization would provide mass feeding, shelter and mental health care.
“Anything we can do to ease the suffering of the victims,” he said, adding that the Durham branch responds to emergencies about every 50 hours, most of them house fires.
Though most of the participants were public workers — some of them bused over from the Health Department — there were some from the community at large. The exercise was not publicized.
Malik Simmons brought a group from Jump Start, a life coach program for middle and high school students with which he works.
“We thought it would be a good idea to take the kids out to get them good exposure in what to do in an emergency,” he said. “It does give awareness and help with preparedness.”
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.
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