[HCRA] FW: TOPOFF 3 CT: Day 3 Problems

[Daniel Sullivan]

City Slams State's Response To Mock Terrorism Attack
State Of Emergency
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=C1683B05-A0CF-4B4F-8F48-D9
34D56C75DA
By ETHAN  ROUEN
Day Staff Writer/Columnist, Police/Fire Reporter
Published on 4/7/2005

New London - While the mock death rate continued to rise Wednesday
during the third day of a terror exercise that has affected all of
Connecticut, city officials praised the federal response during the
drill but criticized the reaction of state agencies.
The city manager and the city's emergency management director said that
some state agencies and the governor's office treated the event like a
drill, while first-responders at the scene were treating the mock attack
as if mustard gas had actually been released.
"They just didn't operate at a level consistent with the size of the
drill," said Reid Burdick, the city's emergency management director.
"Sharing information was quite poor."
Burdick and City Manager Richard Brown said that the governor declared a
state of emergency an hour after an explosion at Fort Trumbull signified
the start of the drill. The problem, they said, was that Gov. M. Jodi
Rell did not consult with people at the scene before her declaration.
During a press conference Tuesday, Rell said she believed local
officials had been notified.
"The governor acted on information she had, but the information she had
was not accurate," Burdick said.
Another problem that damaged the accuracy of the drill, Burdick said,
was that Rell did not order people to stay inside to protect themselves
from the chemical until seven hours after the attack. That followed with
more confusion Tuesday about whether it was safe to return outdoors.
During a press conference, the Department of Environmental Protection
announced that the air was no longer contaminated. Rell did not release
the same information.
VNN, the virtual news network that is broadcasting information to people
involved in the drill, showed some workers on the scene wearing
hazardous material suits and some without safety gear.
After being pressed by the media, James M. "Skip" Thomas, the
commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Management and
Homeland Security, said all the workers on the scene were supposed to be
wearing protective gear, but the state did not have enough to supply
every worker.
Brown said it was miscommunication on the governor's part, not a lack of
equipment, that led to the lack of dress code.
"Skip Thomas threw himself under a bus for the governor," he said. "I
think it's very commendable in terms of loyalty. I'd share a foxhole
with that guy."
Michele Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the state, said the state would not
comment on any possible mistakes until officials have time to analyze
actions taken during the drill.
As the winds whipped off the Thames River Monday, actors covered in fake
blood began getting cold, and Burdick said there was a chance that a
real emergency would occur if hypothermia set in.
He said as part of the drill he requested buses from the state homeland
security department. They did not show up until several hours later, he
said. As people started shivering, he made another request for buses to
warm up the people on the scene so they wouldn't suffer from
hypothermia.
"They said they couldn't provide buses because it was not prearranged
for the drill," Burdick said. "I said, 'This is real. This is not a
drill.' "
Burdick was told that battling the cold weather was an emergency medical
services problem. Finally, a New London police officer working in the
virtual communications center was able to reroute two buses that were
being used to shuttle VIPs to and from the disaster site, he said.
Sullivan said that it is not the state's responsibility to respond to
medical emergencies. Exercise coordinators made contingency plans for
weather-related injuries, and the local incident commander was
responsible for responding to those emergencies, she said.
"If someone was having a heart attack, you wouldn't call the state," she
said.
...As of Wednesday afternoon, the mock death toll in Connecticut had
climbed to 291, according to Marc Short, a spokesman for the federal
Department of Homeland Security. The deaths are a result of a mustard
gas released at a simulated festival on New London's waterfront and an
improvised explosive device that destroyed a nearby parking garage.
TOPOFF, named for the top officials it is designed to test, is the most
comprehensive terror exercise yet conducted in the United States. It is
costing $16 million and also involves New Jersey, in a scenario in which
pneumonic plague was released Monday, as well as Canada and England.
Although officials will begin meeting today to examine what went right
and wrong during the drill, Short said a final report will not be
released for about six months.
In New Jersey, where more than 6,000 simulated people have died, federal
agents working with state police "arrested" five people Wednesday and
are still looking for more suspects involved in the mock attack, Short
said. On Tuesday, three people were "arrested" near the Canadian border.
Capt. William D. Dittman of the New London police was working this week
in the joint operations center at Ocean Beach. He was working on the
investigative aspect of the drill, where he said communication between
local and federal officials ran smoothly.
"The information sharing was very impressive," Dittman said. "You could
tell that it was a practice drill, but (the FBI) really had a handle on
it."
As part of the drill, a simulated explosion in London Wednesday killed
at least 40 people and injured hundreds more in what officials assessed
as another chemical attack, Short said.
Newark and John F. Kennedy airports were "closed," but attempts to
contain the plague failed as passengers flying from the United States to
England complained of sickness, as did cruise ship passengers that
traveled to Canada, Short said.
e.rouen at theday.com City Slams State's Response To Mock Terrorism Attack