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Monday December 13, 1999 Share This Story With A Friend

911 snag plagues anthrax drill

Mock emergency occurred at deadly toxin storage site

Jim Bronskill The Ottawa Citizen

Staff at the military's germ warfare lab had trouble dialling 911 during a mock emergency involving a broken flask containing deadly anthrax.

The building's public-address system also functioned poorly, leaving workers on an upper floor oblivious to the unfolding drama.

The technical glitches were among the problems uncovered during the August safety drill at Defence Research Establishment Suffield, near Medicine Hat, Alta.

Scientists at the facility study biological and chemical warfare agents in an effort to bolster Canadian defences against a potentially deadly attack. The Prairie installation houses some of the world's deadliest toxins, including nerve gas, potent viruses and killer bacteria.

No dangerous substances were actually released during the Aug. 5 simulation, described in an internal report obtained under the Access to Information Act. However, the results raise questions about the facility's readiness for a real emergency.

In the exercise scenario, two staff members were working in a first-floor bio-containment area when one fell, breaking a vial containing anthrax culture. A tiny amount of the culture contains billions of lethal spores, perhaps enough to wipe out an entire city.

The second person immediately began applying pressure to his colleague's leg to alleviate massive bleeding.

Someone then called 911 using the laboratory radio in an attempt to alert base emergency personnel.

"There was no response from CFB Suffield personnel due to some difficulties experienced when transmitting the 911 call," says the internal report.

"Staff from the base medical centre did not hear the message, while staff from the firehall said they heard something ambiguous that led them to believe that we were conducting an internal exercise," adds a section of the report based on notes from Capt. Roger Tremblay, the exercise co-ordinator. "The procedures for initiating emergency response should be revisited."

Dr. Cam Boulet, the emergency incident commander, was concerned that base personnel didn't respond, says the report. He believed calling 911 by radio "might be inadequate."

Dr. Boulet suggested pulling the fire alarm during future emergencies. Following a long discussion, the matter was referred to a committee.

Compounding the problem during the drill was "a deficiency with the PA system" that meant staff on the third floor of the building couldn't hear the announcement of a "Code Blue" -- or extremely serious -- emergency.

Additional department records show the same public-address failure occurred during safety drills last May and July.

Other difficulties encountered in the August drill:

-One rescuer lacked respiratory protection -- the minimum required when dealing with deadly toxins -- because an emergency mask would not fit properly over her eyeglasses.

- A blanket intended for keeping victims warm "was hidden behind a cart" in the lab.

Officials also found there was a "need for more hands-on training" to maintain staff skills. However, they noticed a marked improvement over previous safety drills.

"Everybody seems more confident in his/her own skills and appears to react more quickly than before during emergency situations. This is likely the result of regular training exercises."

Defence Department officials were unavailable to comment on the exercises.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 13, 1999

Answers

Homer, forgive me for mumbleizing one of your articles but this was too perfect a candidate to let go. Elipses indicate where the mumbling of extraneous material appears.

. . .trouble dialling 911 during a mock emergency involving. . . deadly anthrax.

. . . public-address system also functioned poorly, leaving workers on an upper floor oblivious. . . .

. . . problems uncovered during the August safety drill at Defence Research Establishment Suffield, near Medicine Hat, Alta.

In the exercise scenario, two staff members were working. . . when one fell, breaking a vial containing anthrax culture. . . .

Someone then called 911 using the. . . radio. . . to alert base emergency personnel.

"There was no response from CFB Suffield personnel due to some difficulties experienced when transmitting the 911 call,". . . .

"Staff from the base medical centre did not hear the message, while staff from the firehall said they heard something ambiguous that led them to believe that we were conducting an internal exercise," . . . "The procedures for initiating emergency response should be revisited."

. . .Following a long discussion, the matter was referred to a committee. [Okay, take a raucous laugh break here, shrieking "Dilbert would be proud!" every so often.]

Compounding the problem during the drill was "a deficiency with the PA system" that meant staff on the third floor of the building couldn't hear the announcement of a "Code Blue" -- or extremely serious -- emergency.

Additional department records show the same public-address failure occurred during safety drills last May and July. [Yes, folks, this means the problem has been KNOWN for at least 7 months.]

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), December 13, 1999.

Thanks once again Homer. I liked the part about "the matter was referred to a committee". Now it won't be straightened out 'till 2005! Got gas masks?

on de rock

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), December 13, 1999.

Hey! TAHTF!!! Can you all spell "Whoooops!" >"<

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), December 13, 1999.

Front line responders fumbling around ... with ANTHRAX ... warm and fuzzy feelings about how well prepared the world is.

-- let (me@off.now), December 13, 1999.

Geez, so much for blind faith in American ingenuity.

-- Hokie (DUCK@nd.cover), December 13, 1999.

I guess I'll skip watching Stephen King's "The Stand" that starts tonight on the Sci Fi channel.

-- ~***~ (~***~@earth.ebe), December 13, 1999.