Design and conduct a full-scale disaster exercise using a DVD-based interactive training course designed to assist public health and emergency management professionals.

The DVD includes video footage that details Tarrant County's full-scale dirty bomb disaster drill. The tool also includes an interactive training manual as well as a chapter-based lecture series focused on the design and evaluation components of a public health exercise.

This resource contains peer reviews of a variety of exercise and evaluation documents that have been prepared to assist public health emergency planners. Most are directed to public health practitioners, while some are written for first responders and others are designed for use in a hospital setting, highlighting the roles of partners in emergency preparedness. All may be adapted for use by local health departments.

This exercise guide is a rich resource tool utilizing tools previously developed by the Tarrant County APC to provide guidance on performing a public health-focused radiological exercise. The document distills key information from a variety of authoritative sources, to be used as a process guide for local health departments to perform one of the most critical but often neglected aspects of public health readiness: the operations-based or test exercise for an incident involving radioactive agents such as a radioactive dispersion device or so-called “dirty bomb.” The guide contains numerous links to planning and training resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Energy websites. The CD also contains a 17 minute video overview of a major field functional exercise performed in November 2004 involving a simulated dirty bomb at a major NASCAR facility, the Texas Motor Speedway. This CD should be used as a didactic piece along with the DVD, “Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Public Health Exercise – A Dirty Bomb Disaster.” The CD covers additional operational considerations in performing a radiological exercise.