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Tuesday, August 20, 2002The new computer program was inspired by the wildly successful game in which players built virtual cities. But this simulation takes a much more realistic approach: How should public officials react to a possible bioterror attack, when thousands of lives are at stake? The program, called Weapons of Mass Destruction Decision Analysis Center, is being developed by Sandia National Laboratories as a way to simulate a war- room environment in the event of a terrorist attack. ...In one demonstration, a player must decide if there has been an anthrax attack in San Francisco. On a screen are different charts and graphs: Some show reports of people getting sick in different hospitals, while others show the number of deaths. "You're looking for something unusual," research analyst Todd West said, pointing to changing numbers and charts on the screen. The sudden rise in the number of serious flu cases could be due to a unusually strong influenza strain. But then one clinic says it suspects one patient may have been exposed to anthrax. City officials could decide to alert the public and activate vaccine distribution centers. Acting immediately, even without conclusive evidence of an attack, could save lives. But there could be mass panic and serious political fallout if it turns out to be a false alarm. As it turned out in the demonstration, a decision to call a press conference and distribute anti-anthrax medication saved many lives, although the bioweapon still killed thousands. At the end of the simulation, the program lists the different outcomes from different kinds of decisions. But there is no score. "That's the game part I don't want, where there is a winner and a loser and there's a score," Vitko said. "Much more important is the experience." It's sad that we need wargames for public health officials, but I'm glad that there's someone out there who's thinking of and developing such things. posted by Sydney on 8/20/2002 06:25:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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