D.C. Department of Health Conducts Bioterrorism Preparedness Exercise

WASHINGTON, DC — 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 CNA (CNA) - 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. CNA 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, CNA director of Homeland Security.