Seattle: Neurotoxin Weapon in High-rise
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.
