As a way to better understand how their ideas would work in the real world, the team from Oakland County decided to test their new policy and technology ideas during a pandemic “exercise” conducted in fall 2007. A pandemic exercise is a way to test the preparedness and response ability of the county and community by simulating a pandemic crisis.
In this exercise, the overarching goal of Oakland County was to see how effective they could be against a fast moving pandemic influenza or similar viral-based attack. The results would give the county insight into the maturity level of their ability to respond in the case of a real crisis.
As a way to benchmark results the county had numerous goals including:
The Strategic and Primary Goal:
- Maximize the number of citizens vaccinated in a five hour period of time.
The Tactical Goals:
- Maximize comprehensiveness of cross-boundary preparation and ensure business continuity.
- Mobilize dispensing locations and incident command structure as fast as possible.
- Optimize situational awareness and control through interoperable communications.
Each of these goals was supported by innovative policy and technology ideas that were tested during the exercise.