Analysis of Department of Defense Plans and Responses to Three Potential Anthrax Incidents in March 2005. Executive Summary

This report provides a summary of each of the three potential anthrax-related incidents that occurred within Department of Defense (DoD) mail facilities in northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., during 14-18 March 2005. Each of these incidents presented decisionmakers and responders with different challenges. The RAND Corporation was asked by DoD to examine the department's responses to and management of the incidents and to make recommendations for future improvement. Drawing on national standards and guidelines, RAND analyzed existing plans and documented actions related to each of these incidents to draw conclusions and make recommendations at both the facility-specific level and the systemic, overarching level. Based on the research, RAND identified a number of areas in which plans and actions were aligned and responses seemed to be appropriate, as well as a number of areas in which plans and actions were not aligned with national standards and guidelines. RAND recommends several improvements for the department's preparedness and response efforts: align preparedness and response models appropriately to the disease model (prepare for a period of ambiguity about the incident, conduct appropriate environmental screening, and consider the upstream and downstream issues); consider and plan according to the risk to and value of different facilities (develop and apply appropriate methodology for assessing risk and value and plan for continuity of operations for critical or vulnerable locations); conduct systemwide exercises to verify that plans will be implemented appropriately; and use the National Response Plan (NRP) and National Incident Management System (NIMS) framework for incident management, command, coordination, and control (this requires clarifying roles, particularly of senior defense officials, to avoid confusion and/or dysfunction and will facilitate improved coordination and communication with relevant jurisdictions). The original document contains color images.