The state Health Department held a bioterrorism preparedness and response drill at the National Guard gymnasium yesterday, focusing on a mock attack of the infectious disease tularemia. At one station, public health nurse Vivian Murayama, left, met with mock patient Lainie Tamashiro, right, while mock patient Carmen Young also got information on the disease.
State tests response
to bioterror
Hawaii's ability to respond to a bioterrorist attack has been tested successfully by the state in the first drill involving "patients."
About 210 Health Department employees played those roles yesterday in the third of a series of staged drills by the department.
"We had a lot of planning, a lot of preparation, but it was the first time we had bodies and pill bottles and so forth," said Bart Aronoff, manager of the state bioterrorism preparedness program. "It was an invaluable exercise."
He said it went smoothly and that the staff learned a lot of things they can improve to be more efficient.
For example, he said, the staff can be distributed better and nonskilled tasks separated from those requiring medical personnel.
But, he said, "The feedback we got from patients was they felt the situation was organized and ... people knew what they were talking about and staff was able to respond to unexpected problems."
Staged in the National Guard gymnasium near Diamond Head, the drill was to prepare for a mass exercise on Oahu and Maui to be held Aug. 9 to 14 by the Health Department and Healthcare Association of Hawaii hospitals.
"One of the things we're testing is a situation where we have to give medications to a large number of people," Aronoff said, noting the first two drills were mostly to train personnel.
"This is basically a stage approach we're talking -- crawl, walk, run," Aronoff said. "We're in the 'walk' stage."
But, he said, "We actually have drugs stored away, and we could actually operate the clinic this afternoon if exposed to a disease organism requiring medications."
Health Department employees performed as patients, then switched to staff positions. Registering as patients, they picked up role cards with their supposed medical condition, allergies, prescription drugs and other fake medical information.
Staff members followed a flow chart to determine appropriate medications based on patient information.
A bar-code system also was tested for use in following up on patients who might need more medication or further services. The bar code goes on the registration form, and the patient gets a pocket card with contacts if they need more information or help.
The dry run focused on tularemia, listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the top 10 threatening bioagents.
A highly infectious and potentially fatal disease if it isn't treated with antibiotics, tularemia is found in animals, particularly rodents and rabbits, and is called "rabbit fever," Aronoff said. Animals can transmit the disease through infected insects.
State epidemiologist Paul Effler said medical supplies will be delivered to Hawaii if needed from the federal Strategic National Stockpile. Hawaii's part of the supply chain was tested yesterday for ways to improve distribution of medicine and vaccine in a large-scale emergency, he said.
