sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Exercise Cumpston 06 was the largest health simulation exercise ever undertaken
in Australia and the first major exercise conducted by the Australian Government
Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA). The aim was to exercise and validate
the capacity and capability of the Australian health system to prevent, detect and
respond to a pandemic in accordance with the Australian Health Management Plan
for Pandemic Influenza (AHMPPI) and allow any gaps to be identified and addressed.
It also exercised governance aspects of the NAP and state and territory plans.
Six national objectives relating to the policies, response actions and governance
arrangements were addressed.
Exercise Cumpston 06 was successful in meeting its objectives and confirmed the
capability of the Australian health system to respond to a pandemic. It confirmed
that the AHMPPI and governance aspects of the National Action Plan for a Human
Influenza Pandemic (NAP) provide a sound and appropriate policy framework for
the health response to an influenza pandemic. It is also clear, however, that specific
aspects of the plans will need up-dating. In addition, the capacity to sustain such a
response over a prolonged period was not fully tested.
The exercise comprised eight activities: a series of seven preliminary activities,
conducted between April and August 2006 and a main activity conducted from 16
to 19 October. The preliminary activities addressed border control, inter and intragovernment
decision-making, deployment of the National Medical Stockpile (NMS),
the national health emergency response and public communications.
The main activity involved all levels of government and decision making,
including the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), Federal Cabinet, and
Commonwealth agencies, in a whole-of-government context. This participation was
mirrored in the states and territories. All jurisdictions participated in the exercise in
a desktop setting. Operational deployments and activities were notional except in
Queensland, where five live drills were conducted to validate operational procedures.
The exercise play which resulted from the scenario confirmed that Australia’s
emphasis on a strategy of containment, as described in the AHMPPI, is valid and
achievable. The evolution to maintenance of essential services was, however, only
partly considered and should be the focus of future exercises.
While the trigger points for action by different levels of government and agencies
were generally well understood, a major lesson was the requirement for agencies
to shift from routine operations to emergency management mode. This required
streamlining the usual procedures for decision making and policy development, to
allow rapid decision making in a crisis situation. The need for further clarification
and communication of the roles and responsibilities of a complex network of
advisory and decision making committees was also clearly demonstrated.
The exercise enabled public health measures to be assessed and validated.
Recommendations relating to surveillance arrangements, contact tracing, the
deployment of the NMS, the collection and dissemination of epidemiological data
and the operation of the National Incident Room (NIR) in Canberra are contained
in the report. The urgent need for an integrated national surveillance system was
confirmed.
Exercise Cumpston 06 was the first comprehensive test held in Australia of elevated
public health border measures at an international airport. Effective international
surveillance enabled timely border measures to be put in place to slow the spread
of the virus in Australia. These included a change to positive pratique for arriving
international aircraft, the issuing of health declaration cards for arriving passengers,
thermal screening of arriving passengers, deployment of border nurses, isolation
and transfer of suspect cases to hospital and quarantine of contacts. The outcomes
of this test have provided valuable lessons which will be shared across agencies and
jurisdictions.
The importance of a coordinated and national public information program was
confirmed. The use of existing networks, including the National Health Emergency
Media Response Network (NHEMRN), proved their value. Recommendations relating
to public communications are provided.
The management of Exercise Cumpston 06 by the Pandemic Influenza Exercise
Taskforce (PIET) within the Office of Health Protection (OHP) of DoHA worked well.
A key to the success of exercise planning, writing and conduct was the full and early
involvement of specialist advisers, such as epidemiologists, relevant Commonwealth
agencies and all the states and territories. The approach used for Cumpston 06
provides a valuable model for future exercises of a similar scale.
The outcomes of Exercise Cumpston 06 have been invaluable in strengthening
Australia’s preparation for the health response to an influenza pandemic. It is
important the impetus gained is maintained and an ongoing program of exercising,
discussions and workshops be continued.
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/FA080A821420BB98CA2572F10081078A/$File/exercise-cumpston-report.pdf
in Australia and the first major exercise conducted by the Australian Government
Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA). The aim was to exercise and validate
the capacity and capability of the Australian health system to prevent, detect and
respond to a pandemic in accordance with the Australian Health Management Plan
for Pandemic Influenza (AHMPPI) and allow any gaps to be identified and addressed.
It also exercised governance aspects of the NAP and state and territory plans.
Six national objectives relating to the policies, response actions and governance
arrangements were addressed.
Exercise Cumpston 06 was successful in meeting its objectives and confirmed the
capability of the Australian health system to respond to a pandemic. It confirmed
that the AHMPPI and governance aspects of the National Action Plan for a Human
Influenza Pandemic (NAP) provide a sound and appropriate policy framework for
the health response to an influenza pandemic. It is also clear, however, that specific
aspects of the plans will need up-dating. In addition, the capacity to sustain such a
response over a prolonged period was not fully tested.
The exercise comprised eight activities: a series of seven preliminary activities,
conducted between April and August 2006 and a main activity conducted from 16
to 19 October. The preliminary activities addressed border control, inter and intragovernment
decision-making, deployment of the National Medical Stockpile (NMS),
the national health emergency response and public communications.
The main activity involved all levels of government and decision making,
including the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), Federal Cabinet, and
Commonwealth agencies, in a whole-of-government context. This participation was
mirrored in the states and territories. All jurisdictions participated in the exercise in
a desktop setting. Operational deployments and activities were notional except in
Queensland, where five live drills were conducted to validate operational procedures.
The exercise play which resulted from the scenario confirmed that Australia’s
emphasis on a strategy of containment, as described in the AHMPPI, is valid and
achievable. The evolution to maintenance of essential services was, however, only
partly considered and should be the focus of future exercises.
While the trigger points for action by different levels of government and agencies
were generally well understood, a major lesson was the requirement for agencies
to shift from routine operations to emergency management mode. This required
streamlining the usual procedures for decision making and policy development, to
allow rapid decision making in a crisis situation. The need for further clarification
and communication of the roles and responsibilities of a complex network of
advisory and decision making committees was also clearly demonstrated.
The exercise enabled public health measures to be assessed and validated.
Recommendations relating to surveillance arrangements, contact tracing, the
deployment of the NMS, the collection and dissemination of epidemiological data
and the operation of the National Incident Room (NIR) in Canberra are contained
in the report. The urgent need for an integrated national surveillance system was
confirmed.
Exercise Cumpston 06 was the first comprehensive test held in Australia of elevated
public health border measures at an international airport. Effective international
surveillance enabled timely border measures to be put in place to slow the spread
of the virus in Australia. These included a change to positive pratique for arriving
international aircraft, the issuing of health declaration cards for arriving passengers,
thermal screening of arriving passengers, deployment of border nurses, isolation
and transfer of suspect cases to hospital and quarantine of contacts. The outcomes
of this test have provided valuable lessons which will be shared across agencies and
jurisdictions.
The importance of a coordinated and national public information program was
confirmed. The use of existing networks, including the National Health Emergency
Media Response Network (NHEMRN), proved their value. Recommendations relating
to public communications are provided.
The management of Exercise Cumpston 06 by the Pandemic Influenza Exercise
Taskforce (PIET) within the Office of Health Protection (OHP) of DoHA worked well.
A key to the success of exercise planning, writing and conduct was the full and early
involvement of specialist advisers, such as epidemiologists, relevant Commonwealth
agencies and all the states and territories. The approach used for Cumpston 06
provides a valuable model for future exercises of a similar scale.
The outcomes of Exercise Cumpston 06 have been invaluable in strengthening
Australia’s preparation for the health response to an influenza pandemic. It is
important the impetus gained is maintained and an ongoing program of exercising,
discussions and workshops be continued.
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/FA080A821420BB98CA2572F10081078A/$File/exercise-cumpston-report.pdf