VDH joins simulated infectious disease transportation exercise

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) took part in a four-day exercise that reportedly tests and validates the Commonwealth and the U.S.'s ability to transport contagious patients to regional treatment facilities.

According to a release from the department, VDH joined state, local and federal partners in participating in the Tranquil Passport exercise this week, totaling more than 50 partner organizations.

“Exercises like this one allow the rare opportunity to fully simulate the communication, coordination, and collaboration necessary to ensure the movement safely of American citizens who may have been exposed to a highly infectious disease and need to be brought back to the United States for treatment. It takes a full complement of federal, state, regional, local, and private sector agencies and their resources to conduct an operation like this safely and securely. Our partners here in Virginia with the Virginia State Police, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), Northern Virginia Emergency Response System (NVERS), and Virginia Department of Emergency Management all work together to ensure we meet the needs of our citizens.” Jeffrey Walker, Northern Region Emergency Preparedness Coordinator

During the four-day, full-scale exercise, the department moved several American patients with simulated highly infectious diseases from Toronto, Canada, to hospital facilities, from New York to Georgia.

Staff from VDH and other agencies participated on Tuesday, June 24, and Wednesday, June 25. The simulation patients were taken by air to Virginia and were moved using a Portable Biocontainment Unit (PBCU) to Medstar Washington Hospital Center, Children’s National Medical Center, and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, per the department.

The department added that the new program is a resource used to isolate and take patients with highly infectious diseases, with the unit able to take up to 10 patients either by air or on a trailer pulled by a semi-truck.

Tranquil Passport is one of many exercises VDH is participating in, and what staff members learn will better help them respond to all hazards, bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies.

For more information about the department, click here.