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Illinois attack excercise Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/FBE42C4B02C11DF086256D12000F96AC?OpenDocument&Headline=Illinois+will+play+role+of+terrorist+target+in+disaster+exercise++http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/FBE42C4B02C11DF086256D12000F96AC?OpenDocument&Headline=Illinois+will+play+role+of+terrorist+target+in+disaster+exercise++
Illinois will play role of terrorist target in disaster exercise
By PHILLIP O'CONNOR Post-Dispatch
updated: 04/24/2003 06:12 PM
Talk about a bad week. Over five days next month, Illinois will be the target of a bio-terror attack, the site of an airplane crash and revealed as the lair of several al-Qaida sleeper cells.
The incidents are part of a massive national disaster exercise designed to test the preparedness of local, state and federal officials to deal with a worst-case scenario involving weapons of mass destruction. The drill also will include the explosion of a radiological dispersion device, or "dirty bomb," in Seattle.
The exercise, ordered by Congress, is dubbed TopOff 2 - short for top officials - and will run for five days beginning May 12.
"It gives us a chance to stress our systems and see where they fail, and then go back and fix them in a situation where nobody dies," said Michael Chamness, who heads Illinois' terrorism task force. "It's really going to be a great chance for us to learn some lessons in Illinois and also for the rest of the country to take advantage of Chicago and Seattle being guinea pigs. I fully expect us to find some weaknesses and gaps in our plan."
TopOff 1 took place in 2000 and involved a radiological attack on Washington, a chemical attack on Portsmouth, N.H., and a biological attack in Denver.
Despite some plausibility issues, participants said the exercise revealed vulnerabilities that included problems with radio communications, the ability to manage a massive epidemic, a lack of proper protective equipment and a shortage of the necessary medications and the ability to distribute them.
At one point during the exercise, a plane full of antibiotics flown to Denver to fight a plague epidemic was being unbundled by one person who "had to count individual pills and put them into plastic baggies," according to a published review by several participants. Before she could even begin, there was a six-hour delay during which simulated traffic was negotiated "in order to get
plastic baggies from Safeway."
Most of the activity in Illinois during TopOff 2 will take place in the Chicago area and Springfield.
Many of the details of the drill are being kept secret to enhance the realism.
In addition to a biological attack, a simulated airplane crash will take place at Midway Airport, and former Navy Seals will play the role of al-Qaida terrorists, said Chamness, who will help coordinate response from the state emergency operations center in Springfield.
"It's a situation where they will be doing whatever they can to disrupt whatever we are trying to do," he said.
The drills will test the state's fire mutual-aid plan and its weapons of mass destruction response and urban search-and-rescue teams. On some days, the drill will run round-the-clock.
Thousands are expected to participate, from local firefighters and police up to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Among the 19 federal agencies participating are Health and Human Services, Environmental Protection Agency, FBI, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the departments of State and Defense. In Illinois, the State Police, the Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Public Health will be major participants. Canadian officials also will participate.
Actors will play the role of victims and the news media.
The public is not expected to experience any disruption.
The federal government is spending $16 million on the drill, more than four times the amount spent on TopOff 1. In Illinois, the federal government is giving the state and Chicago $1 million each and $500,000 to 66 participating hospitals.
Reporter Phillip O'Connor:
E-mail: poconnor@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8321
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