DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: On the same day that there were real attacks abroad, some local and federal agencies were testing their readiness for terrorism right here at home. One key test took place in Seattle, and our Jeanne Meserve was there.</s>JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This exercise is intended to test systems up and down the line to determine if the federal, state and local governments in this country are ready to deal with the next real terrorist incident. The dramatic part of the simulation got under way Monday afternoon with a detonation of a fake dirty bomb here, just a couple of miles from the center of the city of Seattle. First responders rushed to the scene, but when radiation was detected, they were pulled back and suited up and given the proper equipment. They then went in and began to deal with actors who were playing the dead and injured. Some of those individuals were taken to local hospitals. This tested their ability to deal with a mass casualty incident; also to determine whether their decontamination regimes were where they should be. Meanwhile, the plume of radiation was tracked over the city. The health impacts were judged. And investigators moved into the scene to try and determine who might have been responsible for the explosion here. The people playing in this exercise knew an awful lot about the scenario before it began to be played out. Whether because of that or because the city is exceptionally well-prepared, one impartial observer tells me that in the early hours the local response was exceptionally good. On Tuesday, the first cases of simulated pneumonic plague began showing up in Chicago. That begins phase two of this exercise, which, when all is said and done, will involve eight-and-a-half thousand people and cost $16 million. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Seattle, Washington.
Terror Drill, Simulated Attack Staged in Seattle