TOPOFF 3: Comments and recommendations from members of the New Jersey Universities Consortium for Homeland Security Research

Faculty members from the New Jersey Uni - versities Consortium for Homeland Security Research served as observers in the TOPOFF 3 exercise in New Jersey in April 2005. The exercise involved a simulated release of pneumonic plague, with symptomatic individuals sent to hospitals and asymptomatic individuals sent to points of dispensing (PODs) to receive antibiotics. This paper summarizes Consortium members’ observations about the exercise, with emphasis on the PODs’ strategies and implementation, and on the role of communications and command centers. The future role of university collaborations with local and federal agencies in similar counter-terrorism exercises is also discussed.