Phila. participates in attack drill

City and national agencies staged mock chemical gas attack to test the city's emergency preparedness. A civic fundraiser in Fairmount Park turned to chaos yesterday when a terrorist-planted explosive detonated, dousing 1,500 luncheon attendees with the deadly nerve gas sarin. As coughing, disoriented people poured out of Memorial Hall, rescue workers pulling on heavy suits, boots and oxygen masks rushed to the scene and attempted to contain the substance. But although this scene did take place near 42nd Street and Parkside Avenue -- about two miles northwest of Penn's campus -- it was not quite the national disaster it sounds like. The event, which did not use real nerve gas, was actually part of a three-day exercise designed to test the city's ability to respond to a terrorist attack. The drill included three different situations: a mass-casualty incident, hazardous materials and criminal activity. It "test[ed] response capabilities under relatively controlled conditions," said Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention Bernard Dyer. Philadelphia's simulation exercise -- referred to as Keystone 2-98 -- is part of the Domestic Preparedness program of the U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command, which plans to train 120 major cities to respond to a terrorist attack. Many federal, state and local agencies -- including the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Environmental Protection Agency -- participated in the drill, which was designed to foster the cooperation that would be necessary in the event of an actual attack. The exercise began Tuesday with the terrorist threat and a drill testing the agencies' response on paper. The test will culminate today as the FBI resolves the crime using a series of interviews and clues planted on the victims, while the city "recovers." Volunteers from the various agencies involved, who were trained to act out specific symptoms of a chemical attack, filled Memorial Hall's courtyard, some crying for help and others simply attempting to escape the roped-off area. Rescue workers were expected to react based on what symptoms were displayed -- controllers in green "Keystone 2-98" hats were the only ones who could move the simulation along and determine what happened. Philadelphia Managing Director Joseph Certaine said the city's first response team -- the police, fire and health departments -- would have to respond immediately, not knowing what is involved. They are then responsible for letting the other agencies know what is happening. He added that it is "important for Philadelphia to be able to coordinate its response with other entities" and that this exercise encourages careful communication between all agencies. An initial hosing-down by firefighters began the decontamination process and readied the victims for medical triage. A Hazardous Materials team, complete with airtight suits and decontamination tents, was also called in to do a more detailed decontamination. Stretchers brought some victims to four area hospitals, including the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where they were decontaminated again and given definitive treatment for any other symptoms. HUP decontaminates patients daily for various reasons, according to Jeffrey Gusst, assistant director of nursing in HUP's Emergency Department. Despite all this real-life training, "you train for something and hope it never happens," Gusst said. Linda Vizi, an FBI agent in the Philadelphia office, said the drill was exceptionally valuable because "you work with agencies that you don't normally work with and learn their capabilities and priorities." Philadelphia is the first city to enact a three-day scenario of this magnitude, although 31 cities have been trained for the program so far.