Bioterror drill proves
successful in the Northeast

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

A bioterror drill conducted Sunday in parts of the Northeast went off without a hitch, according to city officials.
The daylong exercise, conducted in the 19149, 19130, and 19144 ZIP codes, involved postal workers delivering empty boxes of medication to 52,000 residents.
"It appears that it was very successful," said Jeff Moran, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
Agencies that participated in the drill included the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Pennsylvania Health Department, the United States Postal Service and the Philadelphia Police Department.
They planned to evaluate how well postal delivery would bode as another means of distribution in the event of a real emergency involving biological or chemical agents such as anthrax. Philadelphia is the second city after Seattle to test such a distribution system.
During the drill, which affected parts of Mayfair and Oxford Circle, 48 pairs of postal workers and police officers walked the various routes to distribute the boxes and an informational flier. The health department notified residents of the day’s events prior to the drill, Moran said. The areas were chosen because of their mix of high density and single-family dwellings and the fact that combined, they make up 10 percent of the city’s population.
In a real event, residents who didn’t receive medication could get it from one of several pod stations set up across the city.
During a news conference Friday outside the new postal facility on Lindbergh Boulevard, officials said the drill was another step toward making sure Philadelphia has a solid emergency preparedness plan.
"This is a very important exercise in our overall preparedness and it will be testing another option in our bio-terror plan," said MaryAnn Marrocolo, deputy city managing director.
One problem that arose during the drill involved fitting the boxes — which measured 3 by 1-3/4 by 1-1/2 inches — through mail slots that are near the bottom of the doors. Postal workers skipped those houses on Sunday, but in a real emergency would have left the items on the doorstep.
Moran said chances of the boxes being taken from a property were slim since everyone in the area would have received one.
"We expected that," Moran said. "When this was done in Seattle, they had the same issue. Part of what we’re doing was determining what percentages of mailboxes would not be able to receive (the boxes)."
The various agencies will evaluate the outcome of the drill over the next few weeks, Moran said. In the end, the exercise showed that all the involved agencies could communicate well in an emergency.
"Overall, we’re looking at how these diverse agencies communicate with one another, and (on Sunday) they did well," Moran said. ••
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com