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Crisis planning takes exercise

Proper response to a terror tampering will require planning, communication, and action by and among a number of different parties.

You had to know this meeting was going to be different from the very start. One leader holds up a cell phone and encourages each of the approximately 50 people in attendance to be sure their phones are on, set to ‘ring' loudly.

Then, the leaders tell us several people are sick after eating some food, but no one knows from what.

Then they tell us the federal Department of Homeland Security has raised the threat level to orange, for “elevated,” but they don't tell us exactly why.

Then they tell us they think the people got sick from eating restaurant food, but they can't be any more specific than that. Oh, and by the way, more people appear to be sick.

Later, they think the people who got sick ingested a biological toxin, and that it's likely it was put into the food intentionally to kill or make people ill.

And all the while, as we are figuring out what action to take in response to every new fact, they throw new and sometimes inconsistent facts at us. It's quite difficult to figure out what to do as the facts continually change and some facts are not even available.

You know, just like in real life.

The above summary describes a recent food terrorism exercise in which I was privileged to participate. Sponsored  by State of Illinois officials, and involving state, federal, county, and municipal public health officials and others from the state, the exercise was the kind of practical crisis management run-through that public officials have been undertaking with increasing frequency post-9/11.

The cell phone advice was designed for its symbolic effect on the participants. Communication, and action rather than inaction, are crucial to responding effectively in a crisis.

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