federal agencies are
examined by attendees
Roles of local, state,
federal agencies are
examined by attendees
Two members of the Ocean County Health Department’s Bioterrorism Preparedness Unit said they learned the importance and need for good communications among local response stakeholders during a day-long exercise in New Brunswick.
The state-sponsored game play, officially called Garden Vector Bioterrorism Weapon Tabletop Exercise, was hosted by the New Jersey State Office of Emergency Management in association with the New Jersey Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force. It was the third in a continuing series of training vehicles designed to help all levels of government agencies become more proficient in reacting to a bioterrorism event.
According to New Jersey State Police Maj. Dennis DelFava, the Emergency Management Section commanding officer, the Garden Vector exercise series is designed to explore the four phases of emergency management mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery from any bioterrorism incident. While the previous two exercises focused on biological sampling and isolation and quarantine issues, the current exercise stressed the roles of federal, state, county and local level response. It also included the private sector’s role in such events.
Daniel Regenye, Ocean County Health Department planner and bioterrorism grant administrator, and Edward Rumen, the bioterrorism risk communicator, were invited by the state to attend the exercise at Rutgers University.
"The emphasis of this exercise clearly was on the importance of communications among all the participating agencies, the public and other stakeholders," Rumen said.
Rumen added the exercise script was based upon a bioterrorism incident at a college basketball game. The teams involved in the exercise represented public health, office of emergency management, law enforcement, public information, hospitals, Rutgers University and Johnson & Johnson, which is based in New Brunswick.
The tabletop exercise called for participants to interact in certain situations. Teams used actual written plans and procedures when making decisions and taking action. Morning and afternoon modules were conducted with extensive debriefings and group comment sessions following each module.
"The exercise proved to be an excellent tool for testing both your unit emergency response plans and the knowledge of your staff in following written procedures," Regenye said. "We will be testing Ocean County personnel and plans in our own tabletop exercise in the upcoming months. What I learned here today will be used to help refine our plans and also gave me insight into what to add to our own bioterrorism training exercise."