FEMA hosted a joint federal-state exercise on Wednesday, December 12, to strengthen contingency plans for an influenza pandemic. Operation PANEX ‘07 was the first functional exercise of its type in the US designed to determine best practices for a coordinated multi-agency response to an outbreak.

Participants were key federal agencies including the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Defense (DOD) in partnership with their counterparts in the six New England states.

FEMA Region I Administrator Art Cleaves underscored the importance the exercise played in preparing for an event of this nature: "It is imperative that we, the responsible federal (and state) agencies, consistently come together to engage in coordinated response planning," said Cleaves. "Obviously, in the event of an influenza pandemic, which is the focus of this exercise, it will require a sophisticated and aggressive course of action."

During Operation PANEX ’07 State emergency operations centers were activated and participating federal agencies worked with state and local health officials and emergency managers to respond to the simulated event.

In the event of an actual influenza pandemic, DHS has primary responsibility for coordinating the overall federal response. FEMA's role would be to coordinate the identification, mobilization and deployment of federal resources to support the life-saving and life-sustaining needs of the states and their populations.

•Date: 13th Dec 2007• Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: Pandemic planning
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