On November 25 and 26, 2014, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) held a two-day bioterrorism emergency drill in order to ensure the procedures for rapid mobilization of Taiwan CDC bioterrorism response teams that will provide on-site assistance to promptly identify, investigate and contain terrorist-caused outbreaks and injuries to minimize the damage and the number of people injured when responding to a biological terrorism attack are in place.

Approximately 70 emergency responders and public health workers participated in the two-day drill. The drill was set in a crowded train/subway union station with versatile traffic. The air-conditioning system and power supply are usually immediately cut off when a bioterrorist attack occurs in a large indoor space, posing challenges for bioterrorism response personnel to carry out their duties. In addition, the drill also simulated scenarios such as unintentional interruption of operations by passersby, risk communication with the public, when emergency responders feel unwell, and when equipment malfunctions to test the incident commander’s spontaneity and provide future reference.

The purpose of the drill is to familiarize emergency responders with the bioterrorism response procedures, test the bioterrorism response procedures, and identify any weakness in the bioterrorism emergency response plan in order to improve the existing preparedness and response for bioterrorism.

In 2009, Taiwan CDC formed the bioterrorism response teams that are in charge of handling major bioterrorism events and organizing relevant exercises and drills periodically. Moreover, Taiwan CDC has also formulated the standard operating procedures for mobilizing bioterrorism response teams based on the U.S. Incident Command System (ICS), adopting a standardized approach to responding to bioterrorism events. In the future, Taiwan CDC will continue to organize exercises and drills while referring to international experiences to further improve the capacities to deal with bioterrorism incidents.