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DATE=4/26/2000 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=SIMULATED TERRORIST ATTACK NUMBER=5-46205 BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN DATELINE=LOS ANGELES INTERNET=YES CONTENT= Voiced At: INTRO: Early Wednesday, police and emergency workers converged on the port of Long Beach, California, to test the city's readiness for a terrorist attack. As we hear from Mike O'Sullivan, the exercise involved more than 300 local and federal officials. TEXT: The exercise took place on a former naval base, which is now home to Sea Launch, an international aerospace firm that launches satellites from an ocean platform. Officials say the facility could be a potential target in an actual attack. Shortly after 9 a-m, an explosion in a trash can marked the release of a simulated gas. Hazardous materials teams would identify it as Sarin, the gas released five years ago in the Tokyo subway system. That actual terrorist attack by a Japanese cult killed twelve people and injured thousands. Rick Pillsbury of the Long Beach Fire Department says there were 50 victims in this simulated attack. Ten were fatalities. The other 40 received treatment. /// PILLSBURY ACT /// We're going to go through the decontaminating of these victims. We are going to then work through the transportation process of bringing these people to hospitals, and then the hospitals will take it from there. /// END ACT /// Within minutes of the attack, Sea Launch workers, who participated in the exercise, stagger from their command ship clutching their heads and stomachs. /// SFX ACT - COUGHING /// A bulletin on the public address system urges other workers to find shelter. /// ACT /// Please take shelter in buildings three, four and one. If you are in building 13, please take shelter in building four. /// END ACT /// Ten minutes after the blast, fire and police personnel arrive on the scene. Masked firefighters with oxygen tanks try to calm disoriented workers as they lead them from the contaminated region. /// ACT -- CROWD SOUNDS /// (victim) They're hurt down there. Go help those people...." (fire fighter) Sit down. Sit down. /// END ACT /// Minutes later, the victims are stripped to their underwear as they undergo decontamination. First, they are sprayed with water hoses and then with chemical compounds. Fire fighter Mike Garcia explains the process for treating people exposed to Sarin. /// HOSING SOUNDS AND GARCIA ACT /// When people are covered with this type of agent, we need to go through a decontamination process, wash it off so we don't contaminate anyone further, especially the hospital systems. Also, when inhaled and taken into the system, what it does is cause violent contractions of the muscles, which eventually can be fatal. /// END ACT /// An antidote called atropine (A-troh-peen) is injected in the victims to stop the convulsions. This is one of 120 tests taking place in U-S cities under a special congressional grant, to test the coordination of local and federal officials. /// OPT /// The U-S Army Biological Chemical Command provides technical expertise, as army official Ivy Roberson (ROBE-er-son) explains. The Army helps with "decon," or decontamination. /// ROBERSON ACT /// We're one of the agencies that has expertise in biological and chemical warfare agents, how to decontaminate, how to mitigate that threat, how to treat casualties and so forth. But our main concern here today is to make sure that the city understands and exercises its capabilities on how to respond to an incident such as this. /// END ACT /// The hazardous materials team of U-S Federal Bureau of Investigation will assist with evidence-gathering. But by 11 o'clock on the morning of the exercise, the Long Beach Police Department's Special Weapons Team is on the trail of the terrorists. Janet Blair is a spokeswoman for the department. /// BLAIR ACT /// Right at this point, we have deployed our SWAT plus our canine bloodhounds. We are obtain a scent from the phone booth where the potential terrorists made a phone call. We'll be tracking that scent, hopefully locating a possible suspect within the decon (decontaminated) area eventually. /// END ACT /// /// END OPT /// By the time the three-hour exercise is finished, local police have caught their suspect. Participants are debriefed, and police and fire officials, victims and terrorists sit down together for lunch at the port of Long Beach. Officials say this simulated terrorist incident is realistic. A chemical weapons attack has never happened in the United States, but if it does, preparedness is essential. (Signed) Neb/MO/TVM/gm 26-Apr-2000 17:56 PM EDT (26-Apr-2000 2156 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .