By JIM DWYER

Published: August 12, 2005

A rich vein of city records from Sept. 11, including more than 12,000 pages of oral histories rendered in the voices of 503 firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians, will be made public today.

The histories - a mosaic of vision and memory recalling the human struggle against surging fire, confusion, and horror - were compiled by the New York City Fire Department beginning in October 2001, but to this date, no one from the department has read them all or used them for any official purpose.

The city has announced that it will also release today a written log of calls to the 911 system, many from trapped office workers, as well as tapes of fire dispatchers. Other records, including tapes of 911 operators, are being assembled and are not yet ready for release, city officials said.

The New York Times sought the records under the freedom of information law in February 2002, but the Bloomberg administration refused to make them public and the newspaper sued the city. Earlier this year, the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, ordered the city to release most, but not all, of the records.

(more…)

Drill to test delivery of medicine in emergency

07/11/05
By Lauren Gregory, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer

The bombings in London’s Underground on Thursday were a tragic reminder of why U.S. officials must keep emergency preparedness drills on their minds.

Public agencies in Rome and Floyd County are no exception. In fact, said Floyd County Health Department Nurse Manager Pat Townley, local public health officials have been planning one particular response exercise the past year and plan to test it for the first time this month.

The health department will be closed Tuesday and Thursday, July 21, so employees can train for and participate in an interstate homeland security exercise with Bartow County health officials and officials from the state of Tennessee, Townley said.

(more…)

LAS VEGAS Police, firefighters and state and federal emergency officials are honing their terrorism response skills over the next four days in Las Vegas.
As many as 78 agencies are expected to take part in several disaster scenarios — including one involving an attack on the Las Vegas Strip.

Clark County health officials plan to operate a simulated casualty collection point this morning at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Actors are playing the role of casualties.

That’ll be followed by a decontamination process for 500 bodies involving the county coroner and an Army Reserve unit.

Some exercises will be at the Clark County Government Center.

Others are at the Convention Center.

That’s where officials are offering a free pet microchip clinic to implant identification tags under the skin of one-thousand pets brought in by their owners.

(source / full list of drills)

AUBURN - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive at Weedsport’s Whitford Airport Monday afternoon in an attempted assassination of two influential U.S. senators.

At least that’s what happened on the computer screen at Cayuga Community College during a simulated terrorism exercise.

The event, organized by the Cayuga County Emergency Management Office and funded with grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, presented a phony scenario in which a terrorist bomb at the airport caused several injuries, a punctured 3,000-gallon fuel tank, scattered debris and a strong chlorine odor.

Various community agencies also had to react to the news that an unattended bag with a pipe bomb-like device had been found inside Auburn Memorial Hospital.

Participants, including representatives from the EMO, hospital, county health department, sheriff’s office, county hazmat team and Weedsport Fire Department, were asked to pretend as if the event had really occurred.

The simulation exercise was conducted in preparation for a full-scale weapons of mass destruction drill at Whitford Airport Thursday, Aug. 11. The live drill will require agencies to go to the scene and use real equipment.

(more…)

Departments Team up for Safety Drill
By AMY V. TALIT, The Bristol Press
07/10/2005

BRISTOL — Senior Capt. Mark Martin, fire department training officer, learned a few lessons this week when members of the fire and police departments along with Bristol Hospital staff trained together to test response times and use of the various resources provided by each entity.

After the TOPOFF 3 terror alert and readiness drill in New London earlier this year, Barbara Banda, director of performance improvement for Bristol Hospital, and Martin got together to begin planning a drill. The drill would test the two companies in the event of a real-life situation involving unknown hazardous materials or a chemical fire.
The original plan, said Martin, was to test the fire department and hospital decontamination teams’ responses to a fire involving an unknown chemical that would require decontamination of all victims. He said originally, the plan was to have more victims than the hospital’s decontamination unit could effectively handle, thereby requiring the assistance of the fire department for added decontamination stations.

(more…)

TERROR DRILLS
Thursday, July 14, 2005

It`s a scary but all too real scenario these days, terrorists striking an American city with chemical or biological weapons. That`s why six Oklahoma cities today, including Lawton and Fort Sill, put on the largest bio-terrorism drill in Oklahoma state history.

It`s just a drill, but it is meant to be just like the real thing. Officials in six Oklahoma cities, including Lawton, set up secured command posts to give out medicine, as if terrorists had released a weaponized version of pneumonic plague.

Julia Taylor took part and says the operation went fairly smoothly.

Participants signed in outside, then went through tight security into a high school gym. From there, they talked with medical experts and got the proper antibiotics. At the MacArthur High School site, there was also a drive up lane. Residents can sign in and get their medicine without getting out of the car. The drive up is meant for handicapped citizens and those already showing symptoms.

Craig Hadley, a former Lawton firefighter, played that role and knows how important these drills are. Fort Sill put on the same drill this morning. Officials hoped to get medicine to about 750 people an hour. They say they doubled that.

Back at the Lawton site, officials hoped to serve about 400 people an hour during both morning and afternoon drills. Officials say they fell a bit short in the morning, serving about 640 in two hours, but they served nearly 1,000 people during an hour-and-a-half in the afternoon.

Officials say the numbers are not the most important aspect, because those would change after a real attack. Lawton residents say that makes them fell better, just in case the unthinkable were to happen. Officials say they will meet in about a week at the Lawton Health Department to assess how all the drills went.

(source / full list of drills)

July 14, 2005
Posted to the web July 14, 2005

Steven Candia
Kampala

A bomb attack situation was played out in the city yesterday as security operatives and other stakeholders held a mock drill to gauge and improve their response to emergencies.

There was a loud explosion, a ball of black smoke and a flame in a car wreckage that had been hauled to the area. A string of speeding Police patrol trucks with armed policemen, ambulances and a Fire tender trucks, nurses and Red Cross rescue workers flooded the area.

Police patrol trucks, ambulances and a fire tender with flickering roof lights and wailing sirens rushed to the scene at break-neck speed as the explosion shook Mulago after an explosive was detonated at the Mulago nurses hostel at about 10:30am.

The explosion took many residents by surprise. Four Israel experts coordinated the exercise that brought together the Police, Army and sister security agencies.

(source / full list of drills)

Fri, Jul. 22, 2005

Agencies conduct bio-terrorism drill in Doral this morning

Several government agencies in Miami-Dade County conducted a bio-terrorism disaster response drill this morning in the Doral area.

Miami-Dade’s Health Department, School Board, Office of Emergency Management and Doral Police Department participated in the exercise at Doral Middle school.

The drill is part of the county’s Cities Readiness Initiative plan. It will focus on identifying logistical needs to manage a real bio-terrorism event, dispensing of preventative medication during a public health emergency and assessing the effectiveness of the county’s dispensing plan.

“This live-action training with our partners is a valuable tool to strengthen our ability to respond to an actual event,” said health department Administrator Lillian Rivera. “We want to be ready to take the action necessary to preserve the health and well being of our residents and visitors.”

(source / full list of drills)

Jul. 21, 2005

Local law enforcement and national guard members are training in case such an attack were to happen here.

Amanda Butterfield is in South Salt Lake with more on the drill.

Today’s drill is a certification test for the 85th Civil Support Team…

Here was this mornings scenerio:

-South Salt Lake fire responded dumpster fire.

-When saw what was inside the building, knew they needed back up, called in the 85th CST.

Weapons and hazardous materials — that’s all these soldiers know is what’s waiting for them inside the building.

(Chief Steve Foote:) “IT’S EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE TO WATCH THE LEVEL OF EXPERTISE THESE FOLKS HAVE.”

The 85th Civil Support Unit was called in to pick up where South Salt Lake first responders aren’t trained.

This is the first drill of it’s kind where South Salt Lake has worked side by side with the National Guard.

(Maj. Hank McIntre/National Guard:) “IN THE PAST WE’VE HAD CONCEPT OF NATIONAL GUARD GOING OVERSEAS TO KEEP THREAT OUT OF BORDERS, SINCE 9-11 WE KNOW THAT THREAT IS WITH IN OUR BOARDERS.”

Since the attacks of 9-11 — it’s been apparent there may come a time local first responders will need federal help.

(Steve Foote:) “TODAY AGAIN, BOMBINGS IN LONDON, THE ACTIVITY IS STILL THERE, SO WHEN SOMETHING DOES HAPPEN, WE HAVE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO US.”

Watching closely in the orange vests are observers, evaluating the 85th CST, and they will determine if they pass this certification.

And if they do…

(Maj. McIntre:) “CITIZENS SHOULD FEEL MUCH SAFER BECAUSE IT’S ONE ADDITIONAL RESOURCE THAT LOCAL CIVIL AUTHORITIES HAVE TO COMBAT THE THREATS THAT ARE OUT THERE.” The 85th CST will never be called out of the country, there job is to stay local here, or inside the country to assist.

The 85th CST was activited in December of 2004 in West Jordan, and is funded through Congress.

(source / full list of drills)

ER staffers run through terrorism drill

BY CURTIS L. TAYLOR
STAFF WRITER

July 30, 2005

The patients were sitting in a waiting room at St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan when they heard news reports of an anthrax attack. Panic engulfed the room as the patients, already upset over their own preexisting medical conditions, began to yell.

While that scenario did not play out in reality, it was one of 11 that emergency room staffers at the hospital were asked to work through Friday during a 90-minute advance training seminar aimed at teaching them how to care for patients and their own mental health during a bioterrorism attack.

In 2004, more than 675 emergency room workers from more than 50 acute care hospitals and health organizations in the city were trained by Disaster Psychiatry Outreach on the basics of mental health consequences of bioterrorism and trauma.

The second phase of that training, sponsored by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, was held Friday at St. Vincent’s and is being taught at other acute care facilities throughout the city, officials said.

As the first responders in such an attack, emergency room staffers can find themselves feeling stress because of the event or heightened patient anxiety, said Dr. Grant H. Brenner, who led the training session.

Using the 2003 SARS crisis in Asia to illustrate key psychology problems that can arise during such an attack, Brenner said emergency first responders must identify psychosocial vulnerabilities in patients and themselves.

“The best way to be able to handle problems arising is to prepare in advance,” Brenner said, instructing staffers to be familiar with their hospital’s disaster plan. “You should also have your own personal preparedness plan in place.”

Other areas covered included differentiating between fears resulting from such an attack and mental illness to quickly administer care.

“We have learned from past experience that during a disaster, you get an influx of patients here that are not necessarily acutely ill, but they need a lot of emotional and psychology support to get through the stress,” said Yves Duroseau, a senior staffer who attended Friday’s seminar.

(source / full list of drills)

Preparing for terrorism
By Allison T. Williams
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 6:45 PM CDT

Staff photo/Allison T. Williams Suffolk firefighters Shawn Boothe and Doug Hatfield carry Karen Chase, who was role-playing a pregnant woman who learned she had been exposed to the bubonic plague.
Karen Chase, nine months pregnant, collapsed after learning she may have been exposed to the bubonic plague.

Jane Aston’s scream pierced the room, as she clenched her chest.

Emergency workers rushed forward to treat the two women, preparing to transport them to Obici Hospital. Meanwhile, dozens of other people who may have been exposed to the deadly disease were give preventative treatments of antibiotics.

Actually, they were given M&M’s-peanut or plain, depending on which antibiotic they were prescribed. And Chase and Aston are both perfectly healthy.

The two were among more than 160 Western Tidewater Health Department employees, local public safety workers and Medical Reserve volunteers who spent Wednesday participating in a bio-terrorism drill at the National Guard Armory.

Drill participants were told that a speaker who visited a local church last weekend had died of the bubonic plague. The health department, along with dozens of volunteers, is charged with dispensing preventative antibiotics to anyone who may have come in contact with the plague victim.

The health department sponsors similar training exercises at least once a year, said Pat Winter, nursing supervisor at the Suffolk Health Department and drill’s coordinator.

The event is a dress rehearsal meant to help participants team up to effectively deal with large numbers of people needing medical treatment, Winter said.

“It lets us evaluate what we are doing and how we are doing it,” she said. “Things went okay on Wednesday…although I think we need to better define the job descriptions we give to people manning the stations.”

Participants organized themselves and work well together, she added.

Events like Wednesday’s drill are good training for the real thing, participants said.

“It helps us work out the kinks and see where we need to improve in case there is a real disaster,” said Nicole Polka, who works at the Isle of Wight County Health Department. “It lets us see what we need to do better to make sure everything flows smoothly and people remain calm if something does happen.”

Linda Fuller, a pharmacist and volunteer with the Medical Reserves, agreed.

“We are trying to iron out the bugs now,” she said. “This is good practice in case something really does happen.

“I feel like I would be able to help if there was a real emergency.”

allison.williams@suffolknewsherald.com

(source / full list of drills)

Terror drill tests emergency response

By Charles Richards
The Paris News

Published July 26, 2005

A terrorist attack in Paris, Texas?

About 50 people gathered at 8 a.m. today in the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of City Hall to begin a 2-1/2 day exercise to identify local officials’ readiness to tackle a problem of that magnitude.

People with scanners heard reports of an “explosion” at the city water treatment plant about 9:45 a.m. today, followed shortly after 10 a.m. by reports of “chemical agents” discovered in the water at the plant.

“What are your chances of having a terrorist attack in the city of Paris?” asked John Garnecki, who is with the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center.

“Well, the possibility exists, we know that. It could be anywhere in this country. There is a possibility. The probability is maybe not so high, but we can never ignore the fact that there are people out there who do want to hurt us,” Garnecki said.

He heads a team that came to Paris under a contract with the governor’s Division of Emergency Management “to give you a chance to test your system, to test your methods, to test your organization — to find out for yourself what works for you in an operation such as this. You will discover what doesn’t work, areas you need to improve on, and also things that worked well and that you will want to continue,” he said.

Over the two and a half days, Garnecki said, “we will challenge your ability to respond to and to manage this type of incident. You will discover by doing and working the problems that we present to you, and through that discovery we’re going to make your system better in the end.”

Garnecki reminded the large crowd of local officials from every branch of emergency response that terrorist attacks generally involve multiple events, such as what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City, and recently in London.

“Keep in mind that you as a responder can potentially be a victim. You can be a target and your facilities can be a target,” Garnecki said.

The operation began at 8 a.m. today, beginning with the overview laid down by Garnecki. The actual exercise was to begin at 9 a.m.

(source / full list of drills)

Exercise to focus on nuclear terror scenario
Posted Jun 29, 2005 at 1:00:PM MDT

FORT MONROE, Va. — Here’s the scenario…A seafaring vessel transporting a 10-kiloton nuclear warhead makes its way into a port off the coast of Charleston, S.C. Terrorists aboard the ship attempt to smuggle the warhead off the ship to detonate it. Is this really a possibility?

Joint Task Force Civil Support (JTF-CS) here is planning its next exercise on the premise that this crisis is indeed plausible.

Sudden Response 05 will take place this August on Fort Monroe and will be carried out as an internal command post exercise. The exercise is intended to train the JTF-CS staff to plan and execute Consequence Management operations in support of Federal Emergency Management Agency Region IV’s response to a nuclear detonation.

Some of this year’s objectives for SR05 are to refine nuclear incident Concept of Operations, produce a CM Operation Order, refine command post set-up procedures and maintain situational awareness of multiple CM incidents.

The Sudden Response exercise has been held at Quantico, Va., in the past, but has been moved to Fort Monroe to maximize command post training time. The senior leadership felt that it was more important to accomplish training instead of losing up to a day and a half in travel time, said Paul Deflueri, J7 Lead Exercise Planner. “This will allow us to still meet our training objectives,” he said.

Some external participants may work with JTF-CS during the exercise.

“We’re trying to get representatives from FEMA Region IV as well as representatives from South Carolina Emergency Management Division and active duty soldiers from the (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) Consequence Management Response Force to play the role of task force units,” Defluri said.

“Each time we do one of these internal exercises, we try to make it more robust and try to add in fidelity,” Defluri said. “That’s what we’re trying to do for SR05: create a good scenario and be able to replicate the effects as best we can. That way we can give the command a really good CM exercise.”

(source / full list of drills)

Distribution of vaccines tested

By Jennifer C. Yates

The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Don’t look for hundreds of people to gather at a large public venue when a mass-vaccination drill is held in the city next month.

Instead, emergency medical personnel will fan out to senior centers across the city in an effort to test how effective it is to decentralize vaccine distribution should a bioterror attack strike. During the Aug. 1 drill, a pneumonia vaccine will be given by the city’s paramedics to elderly residents at various senior centers.

Dan Swayze, director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Prehospital Care, said most terror drills encourage people to gather at large arenas or stadiums where medications can be given out. Based on suicide bombing targets overseas, Swayze said that might be risky.

“What we’re concerned about based on what we’re seeing in Iraq is those kinds of gatherings could be a [target] for an attack,” Swayze said. “We’re wondering if a more decentralized system … would be a good way to minimize the security risks.”

Dr. Ronald Roth, Pittsburgh’s medical director, said bringing vaccines out to the people could be beneficial to the at-risk communities, which include the elderly and those without transportation.

“It makes more sense to go out to the peripheries, especially if we are trying to stop the spread of some disease,” Roth said.

Though it’s just a drill, officials will be giving real vaccine to about 800 people. The prehospital care center and others hope to gather data that will help them assess how such a distribution would run should an attack occur.

(source / full list of drills)

CHICAGO More than 200 emergency responders will participate in a chemical decontamination drill this morning at U-S Cellular Field.

Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications says the drill will focus on how authorities would respond if there was a chemical attack on Chicago.

Specialized units from the Chicago police and fire departments and the Department of Environment’s hazardous materials division will participate in the drill.

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will observe the exercise.

Office of Emergency Management and Communications executive director Andrew Velasquez says the drill will give emergency responders the opportunity to practice coordination and communication.

(source)

more..

200 Participate in Chicago Chemical Attack Drill
Drill To Focus On How Authorities Would Respond

(AP) CHICAGO More than 200 emergency responders will participate in a chemical decontamination drill Sunday morning at US Cellular Field.

Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications says the drill will focus on how authorities would respond if there was a chemical attack on Chicago.

Specialized units from the Chicago police and fire departments and the Department of Environment’s hazardous materials division will participate in the drill.

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will observe the exercise.

Office of Emergency Management and Communications executive director Andrew Velasquez says the drill will give emergency responders the opportunity to practice coordination and communication.

(source / full list of drills)

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

— Time: 7:53:39 AM EST

Ripley to hold anti-terrorism workshop

By CARA COOPER

RIPLEY - City council gave unanimous approval Tuesday for the Ripley Police Department to hold an anti-terrorism workshop.
Capt. Jim Fridley requested permission to hold the two-day class in Ripley after attending the same class last month in Nitro.

“We thought it was a good class and would like to host one ourselves,” Fridley told council.

Twenty-two police officers in the county have signed up to take the class. Fridley expects officers from outside the county to take the class as well.

The class will be held Sept. 7 and 8, is being sponsored by the U.S. Attorney Generals Office and will be taught by Jerry Cole, retired West Virginia state trooper.

It will include two days of classroom instruction as well as a mock drill in which officers will be responsible for locating seven bombs on two cars, Fridley said.

Ripley Mayor Ollie Harvey said she supported the class because of the opportunity it will provide to police officers of the county.

In other matters:

- Council gave permission to the police department to begin advertising for an officer to replace Michael Strobbe, who recently joined the Jackson County Sheriffs Department. Fridley said he is looking for a certified officer to replace Strobbe.

- Council unanimously approved a motion for Harvey to sign a resolution that would recognize West Virginia 33 at a Civil War trail.

- Council approved a motion for the city maintenance department to place gravel on the section of property that will serve as an access street from the city parking lot to the new municipal building. Once the lot is graveled, the area will be opened to traffic, which, according to Tim King, city superintendent, will alleviate traffic problems on South Street.

- Council approved a motion for Harvey to sign a resolution presented by Jim Picarelli, urging Congress to not privatize social security. The motion passed 5-1, with Councilman Vic Yoak voting no.

Contact Cara Cooper via e-mail at ccooper@newsandsentinel.com

(source / full list of drills)

Terror drill tests local emergency readiness

By Keith Hodo
August 03, 2005

Today the city of Seattle and the UW will conduct an emergency-response drill that will make other emergency drills seem meager.

Today’s drill in Lander Hall is meant to simulate a large neurotoxin weapon in a high-rise building with mass casualties, according to Steven Charvat, UW’s emergency-management director.

The city of Seattle is conducting the test because it is required under the terms of a federal grant Seattle received from the Department of Homeland Security. The UW is involved because the drill represents a great chance to test its emergency response team, “especially in this post 9/11-era,” said Charvat.

In May 2001, an arson attack burned the UW’s Urban Horticulture Center. Although the UW is participating in the drill, Charvat said, there is no specific threat to the campus.

“This exercise is another example of the UW working to continuously improve our readiness for the unexpected,” he said.

More than 500 people from various emergency teams from around the area will participate in the drill. The UW’s emergency-management team, police, medical center and a few other departments will work with the Seattle police and fire departments, Metro Transit, the Bellevue fire department and the Red Cross.

The drill is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

(source / full list of drills)

Jul. 26, 2005 0:34 | Updated Jul. 26, 2005 18:55

IDF, police begin mass pullout drill
By ARIEH O’SULLIVAN AND YAAKOV KATZ

IDF, police training exercise at Tze’elim base in the Negev.

For the next three weeks, the Tze’elim training base in the Negev will be buzzing with thousands of IDF soldiers and policemen as they undergo the most unusual training of their careers.

Following Tuesday’s mock drill, the IDF released a statement saying that the “evacuation” took only 20 minutes. However, fellow soldiers were playing the role of settlers, greatly reducing the realism and accuracy of the pullout operation, which is expected to be much more difficult for the IDF and police forces.

A mock settlement, referred to as “Chicago”, has been constructed, and the trainees will enact various scenarios that could arise during the evacuation. Soldiers and police will play both the parts of settlers and the forces evacuating them.

(more…)

NEW DELHI: The Army wants to unleash a Sudarshan Chakra against the Chinese Army. No, the world’s third largest Army is not thinking of deploying mythological weapons to scare the largest one.

Instead, the first-ever Indian combat exercise to which the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been invited is code-named Sudarshan Chakra Prahar. “It has been confirmed that a top PLA delegation will be coming to the Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan to witness this exercise in mid-November,”said an officer.

The PLA delegation will be exposed to the Army’s top-notch T-90S main battle tanks and the upgraded T-72 tanks of an armoured division from one of three “strike corps’’. “They will also get a firepower demonstration,”he added.

An Indian Army team, led by a general commanding an armoured division, had incidentally witnessed an exercise of a “reinforced mechanised division”of the PLA in Henan province of China last year.

Though a reciprocal gesture, the upcoming exercise is yet another indicator of the upswing in Sino-Indian military ties in recent years, which remained marred for decades by the bitter 1962 conflict.

India, of course, still remains worried about the large-scale modernisation of the 2.5 million-strong PLA, which is more than double the Indian forces, apart from China’s extremely close defence ties with Pakistan.

China’s rapid development of military infrastructure in the Tibet Autonomous Region and other border areas is another source of concern. Moreover, the process to delineate the 4,057-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries is still to show much progress.

Be that as it may, as the defence ministry itself puts it, Sino-Indian relations have “now acquired a strategic character”. The Army now dismisses PLA incursions across the unresolved LAC as nothing serious.

(source / full list of drills)

Whether it’s terrorism, riots, or any major disaster, local agencies will be the first to respond. That’s why Roanoke city wants their disaster training to be as real as possible.

This was the fourth year the agencies have participated in this drill. Organizers say the old adage practice makes perfect, certainly holds true in the face of disaster.

(source / full list of drills)