Biosecurity Briefing Subscribe | About | Current Issue | RSS | Archive DHS Releases Summary of TOPOFF 4 After Action Report By Crystal Franco, April 25, 2008 On April 10, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a press release announcing the availability of “preliminary observations from national exercise TOP OFFICIALS 4 (TOPOFF 4).” This fourth exercise in the TOPOFF series was held over the course of 5 days in October 2007 and involved “more than 23,000 federal, state, local, and private sector participants as well as representatives from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.”1 Following the conclusion of the exercise, participants met to discuss major findings, gaps, and lessons learned; analysis which has been summarized and compiled into the TOPOFF 4 After Action Quick Look Report (QLR)—written in November 2007 and now released to the public.2 The TOPOFF 4 exercise involved a radiological dispersal device (RDD) scenario which included coordinated attacks in Guam, Oregon, and Arizona and was based on the National Planning Scenarios “to test the full range of federal, state, territorial, and local capabilities…[and] the DHS Target Capabilities List (TCL).”2 The exercise tested the following capabilities: - Intelligence/information sharing and dissemination;
- On-site incident management;
- Emergency Operations Center (EOC) management;
- Emergency public information and warning; and
- Economic and community recovery.
Preliminary observations reported by participants in the After Action QLR include: - Intelligence/information sharing and dissemination: Delays in responses to requests for classified information
| - On-site incident management: Problems with multiple Unified Commands, command structures that did not follow the National Incident Command Structure (NIMS), and personnel who were “inexperienced” or unfamiliar with incident command
| - Emergency Operations Center (EOC) management:
| - Decision makers found plume models difficult to interpret and act upon during the exercise
- The private sector found it difficult to integrate into the response
- “Unfamiliarity with the process for requesting federal support caused delays”
- “Decisions and taskings” from meetings were not “formally disseminated and agencies and departments at all levels often lacked critical information during the exercise
- The schedule of senior-level federal meetings “created a high demand for updates and products to support these meetings”
- “The purpose, definitions, and consequences of the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) threat levels lack clarity”
| - Emergency public information and warning: Public Information Officers found it difficult to obtain information for public dissemination; Communicating and justifying information to the public was difficult in itself
| - Economic and community recovery: Recovery from an RDD has not been adequately addressed in planning
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DHS is in the process of reviewing these and other issues identified during the exercise and is working on recommendations for improvement/corrective actions to be taken. In the Quick Look Report, DHS concludes that the “overall exercise was successful in highlighting improvements since previous exercises and real-world responses as well as identifying areas requiring further improvement.” According to DHS, “the next step in the after action process is a reconstruction and analysis of the exercise to support the development of recommendations that will help…craft corrective actions…and to help further refine these improvement areas.”2 References - DHS-FEMA releases preliminary observations from national exercise TOPOFF 4 [news release]. Washington, DC: Department of Homeland Security; April 10, 2008. http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=43170. Accessed April 25, 2008.
- Top Officials 4 (TOPOFF 4) full-scale exercise (FSE) after action quick look report. DHS National Exercise Program. November 19, 2007. http://www.fema.gov/pdf/media/2008/t4_after%20action_report.pdf. Accessed April 25, 2008.
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