Regional Drill Tests Emergency Response to Anthrax

Receiving antibiotics within the first 48 hours after exposure to anthrax is critical to survival, according to Michael A. Pascucilla, director of health for the East Shore District Health Department.

An exercise in preparedness for such an incident played out this week at Guilford Fire Department Headquarters led by the ESDHD, Region 2, which serves East Haven, Branford, North Branford, Guilford and Madison. For this drill, representatives from local health, police, and fire departments as well as volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps participated in a scenario in which more than 3,000 doses of antibiotics (doxycycline) used to combat anthrax were packaged and readied to be shipped to at-risk populations in just about 90 minutes.

Mayor April Capone was on site observing the action. She stated, “This doesn’t come out of fear, but we need to be prepared for any emergency that may arise.”

The purpose of the drill was to ensure that the ESDHD could be prepared for an anthrax outbreak, and to educate officials like Capone on how to handle the situation on the local level. When asked what she took away from the exercise, Capone said, “The health and safety of your population are two of the most important and basic factors.”

In a scenario like the one exercised for an anthrax outbreak, the ESDHD had two simulations of how antibiotics are dispersed to those in need: a closed POD and an open POD (point of distribution).

The filling of more than 3,000 doses of a 10-day supply of antibiotics were part of a closed POD scenario in which workers like Branford resident Susan Miller, who is a longtime Medical Reserve Corps volunteer, worked in an assembly line to get the medicine out to eight “closed” facilities for distribution.

Though doxycycline pills were swapped with Tootsie Rolls and Swedish Fish, Miller said she still felt an adrenaline rush during the mock scenario when the leaders announced, “The drill is now beginning.” It took Miller and the rest of the volunteers, she said, about three minutes to realize their packaging method was not working before they re-strategized to make the production more efficient.

“It was very smooth and went faster than we thought it was going to go,” said Miller.

Pascucilla believes this type of exercise is important to run to ensure preparedness of all personnel should a real-life incident occur. “We really want to make sure we have our act together, and we are speaking with once voice,” she said.

In the closed POD drill, workers like Miller who packaged the antibiotics were preparing the shipments for five drivers, who then delivered the goods to eight area long-term care facilities in ESDHD, Region 2. In a real-life situation, the five drivers would have been accompanied by police escorts to make deliveries, but during the exercise this was omitted as a cost-savings.

After the drivers were off, Pascucilla walked people through an open POD to demonstrate the difference between the two points of assistance.

This simulated open POD was "" (a real life-designated open POD) where people who think they may have been exposed to anthrax would come. After signing in, heads of households would be screened to determine if they needed doses of antibiotics for themselves and family members depending on their proximities to the anthrax incident.

Walk-ins to the open POD would receive a 10-day supply of medicine and instructions about what to do going forward. Those already sickened by exposure would not be allowed into an open POD, explained Pascucilla.

Taking the tour was Training Officer Rick Hart, who recalled a similar real-life scenario when Branford High School was used as an open POD for vaccinations for H1N1. Hart will take what he learned at the event back to Branford, as will other representatives from area towns like Fire Chief William Seward of North Branford, to educate the community.

“We’ll let people know,” Hart said. “This is another system that is out there in case.”

Officials said the real heroes of the day – those the police, fire departments and health care workers need to make scenarios like this successful in real life – are the Medical Reserve Corps volunteers like Miller. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for Region 2 you can learn more here.

Before getting back to the review meeting, where the day’s drill was analyzed for positive and negative feedback, Miller said, “You really feel like you are contributing something to the community.”