Operation Golden Phoenix 2008"

'Operation Golden Phoenix 2008'


City Comes Under Mock Bio-Terror Attack (SAIC San Diego Home)
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/16956410/detail.html



SAN DIEGO -- A four-day training exercise stretching from the U.S.-Mexico border to East County puts more than 70 agencies to the test during a fake anthrax attack.



"Operation Golden Phoenix 2008" began Monday and will put physicians, nurses, Marines, Border Patrol agents and city and county officials to the test, with cameras recording every move.

Its all part of a mock bio-terrorism attack on San Diego, in which the city comes under a fake anthrax contamination. Officials said the drill involves the simulation of terrorists sneaking in anthrax at the border.
In a lab at San Diego State, the latest technology will be put to the test to see if the county is prepared to handle such a situation.
"We're doing an evaluation during this period of time to look at the technologies here to figure out which ones fit and which ones can really provide some capability to us for the future," said Bob Welty, SDSU's director of Homeland Security.
On Tuesday, during a simulation along the border, a truck with pretend anthrax was intercepted. An inflatable satellite picked up the signal and sent it back to the command post.
Temporary houses made of foil covered with foam and tape were setup for victims along with a reunification center for families affected by the mock drill.
"The key word is it's 'real play'," said professor Eric Frost, with the Visualization Center at San Diego State, "This is one of the things that people are really honestly saying we're not playing we're going stick ourselves out there and do it and if we can't do it we really better get it fixed."
Big and small companies have brought their latest technology, including chemical detectors, disaster drill video games and fancy mapping programs, to see how they might all fit together to help coordinate a response to an attack or some other disaster.