Doroudi, East, Appleford, Walker and Button designed and conducted a workshop simulating a disease outbreak on a trout farm, with the aim of increasing Victorian government preparedness to respond to unpredictable aquatic disease emergencies
Abstract
Exercise Rainbow was designed to build capacity within the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (VDPI) to respond effectively and efficiently to an emergency disease incident in aquatic animals. Four preliminary one-day workshops were conducted with VDPI staff to provide training prior to the actual two-day exercise that simulated an outbreak of infectious disease on a fictional trout farm and in an adjacent natural waterway. Evaluation of the outcomes of the exercise and jurisdictional performance highlighted a good general awareness of emergency disease management procedures within VDPI, but a number of opportunities for further improvement and or development of the existing systems were also identified.
