Press Releases
SARS drill tests preparedness of departments
Government departments and agencies tested their preparedness today (November 20) in a drill that involved a fictitious case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in a home for the elderly.
The exercise, code-named Evergreen, was organised by the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau in collaboration with the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority. Joining in were a home for the elderly and six other departments - Social Welfare, Food and Environmental Hygiene, Buildings, Home Affairs, Information Services and the Education and Manpower Bureau.
At a media session after the day-long exercise, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, said drills were an important element of the Government's multi-faceted strategy to deal with a possible resurgence of SARS.
"Today's exercise was designed to let the departments and agencies involved put the SARS contingency measures into practice and have them evaluated," he said.
"The adequacy of contingency operational protocols formulated by relevant departments and agencies to combat SARS will be assessed after the exercise."
Dr Yeoh added the drills would strengthen inter-agency communication and the ability and confidence to cope with SARS emergencies.
The exercise scenario involved a resident of a residential care home for the elderly who came down with a respiratory tract infection after returning to Hong Kong from overseas. The resident was subsequently found to be a laboratory-confirmed SARS case, triggering a Level One Response under the government's overall emergency mechanism on SARS.
According to the emergency mechanism, the Homes Affairs Department, the Department of Health and the Social Welfare Department would react swiftly to enhance surveillance, carry out contact tracing and epidemiological investigations, and enhance their capacity to cope with a potential outbreak.
In today's drill, the regional office of the Department of Health, upon receiving hospital notification of the fictitious SARS case, started epidemiological investigations and contact tracing. It visited the home for the elderly to investigate and make sure the necessary precautionary measures were in place. Meanwhile, the Health Department arranged for close contacts of the SARS patient to be quarantined to contain the spread of the disease. It also assessed the home's infection-control measures.
At the same time, a Multi-Disciplinary Response Team was activated and sent to the scene. Food and Environmental Hygiene Department staff were assigned to disinfect and clean the dormitory and communal facilities of the home and to conduct pest control, while Buildings Department staff inspected the home's drainage system and sewers to rectify any irregularities.
Meanwhile, a Level One Steering Committee under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food was activated to review the adequacy of control measures and the response mechanism and to decide on what additional control and support measures were needed.
Present at today's meeting rehearsal were the Director of Health, the Director (Professional Services and Public Affairs) of the Hospital Authority, the Director of Social Welfare, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, the Director of Home Affairs, the Director of Information Services, and a directorate officer from the Education and Manpower Bureau.
The exercise sought to assess the following components of the emergency response mechanism: communications and co-ordination of responses among departments and agencies; departmental/sectoral contingency capability plans, guidelines and working orders; control measures to contain the spread of the disease following the confirmation of a SARS case; operation and coordination of the Multi-Disciplinary Response Team; and activation and operation of the Level One Response Steering Committee.
A review involving all participating departments and agencies will be held after the exercise to consolidate the experience gained and identify areas for improvement.
On September 22, the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau released the "Checklist of Measures to Combat SARS", which outlined the Government's overall emergency response mechanism to handle a possible resurgence of the disease.
Since then, the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health have conducted 18 drills in hospital settings to assess the effectiveness of their contingency plans. Exercise Evergreen was the largest SARS exercise to date, involving more than 100 management and operational staff of 10 bureaux, departments and agencies.
In preparation for a possible comeback of SARS, more drills will be held to test preparedness and emergency response under other possible scenarios.
End/Thursday, November 20, 2003
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