Posted on: Monday, April 11, 2005

Volunteers needed for terrorism drill

Advertiser Staff

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Six hundred volunteers are needed Thursday for a state Department of Health exercise involving a bioterrorism preparedness drive-through clinic that will be set up at Vidinha Stadium in Lihu'e.

Volunteers will be asked to drive through the clinic between 10 a.m. and noon, fill out forms, get evaluated for medication and receive fake medicine, officials said.

Motorists will not have to leave their cars, and for their trouble will receive a $5 voucher good at Kmart, Star Market, Foodland or Ishihara Market.

The exercise will test Kaua'i's plan to distribute medicine and supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile in response to a bioterrorism emergency.

The Strategic National Stockpile, a program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a cache of medicines and medical supplies stored in 13 secret locations around the country. The stockpile will be delivered to any state that needs it within 12 hours of an approved request. Hawai'i and other states are required to develop and test plans to receive and distribute the medicine and supplies.

The exercise involving the Kaua'i drive-through clinic is the first such drill in the country, according to the Health Department. It has been dubbed "BTEX Kaua'i 2005 Ho'omakaukau No Ka Maluhia (Kaua'i Prepares for Safety)."

Experts from Alaska, Arizona and New York will observe and evaluate the drill.

More than 60 Health Department workers have been trained for the drive-through clinic, said clinic incident commander Toni Torres.

Participating agencies include Kaua'i Civil Defense, the police and fire departments, local hospitals, the American Red Cross, the state Department of Transportation and the Transportation Security Administration.

Volunteers do not need to register and may just show up at the stadium, entering from Kapule Highway.