Media Release

For: Immediate Release
Date: August 22, 2003
Contact: Mary Jo Takach—222-7822 or 623-0479 (cell)

HEALTH, EMA, DOT, MHRH, National Guard, Hospital Association, Municipalities and Hospitals Participate in Bioterrorism Exercise

From Tuesday to Thursday (Aug 19-21), The Department of Health (HEALTH), Emergency Management Agency, State Police, Department of Transportation, Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals, the Hospital Association, 12 hospitals and 11 municipalities participated in a Bioterrorism Medical Emergency Distribution Exercise. A host of national partners including CDC, FEMA and evaluators from a number of states also participated.

The exercise scenario began with an imaginary but intentional release of pneumonic plague bacteria at a centralized cinema during the past weekend, followed by many cases of atypical pneumonia reported to HEALTH by several area hospitals on Tuesday and a highly probable diagnosis of plague Tuesday afternoon. (REMEMBER, THIS IS A DRILL, NOT AN ACTUAL REPORT!)

As part of the drill, HEALTH notified the cities, towns and hospitals to activate their Medical Emergency Distribution System and made an official request to the national Centers for Disease Control for the Strategic National Stockpile’s Training Package.

The Training Package arrived Wednesday morning; one exercise team checked inventory and organized the supplies the state would need if the disease outbreak were real. Another team worked with hospitals and municipalities to calculate the number of doses of medication that would be needed. The municipalities would distribute preventive antibiotics to their residents; the hospitals must plan for the care of plague patients as well as the distribution preventive antibiotics to patients and staff. (Even with early diagnosis, quick distribution of antibiotics and excellent treatment of victims, many Rhode Islanders would become sick from a release of plague bacteria and about one-third of those would die.)

On Thursday morning (Aug 21), practice supplies were delivered via DOT trucks and National Guard helicopter to the 12 hospitals and eight municipalities that wanted to practice their emergency medical supplies reception procedures. The towns of Warren and Coventry and most of the hospitals also practiced setting up and operating distribution clinics.

"Each exercise improves our teamwork. As our teamwork improves, our problems solving abilities grow exponentially," notes Dr. Patricia A. Nolan, MD, MPH, Director of Health. "We also confirmed that people need a good flow of information throughout an event to perform well. All forms of communication are important, from telephones that work to computer data in the same applications. The Information Systems specialist may be one of the most important members of any emergency response them."