Summer 2003 Issue
Inside CDC’s Marcus Emergency Operations Center
HHS Secretary and Georgia Governor Participate in Dedication
On April 1, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue joined CDC Foundation Board Chair Oz Nelson in presiding over the formal dedication of the Marcus Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Making his fifth visit to CDC in five years, Secretary Thompson presented Bernard Marcus, co-founder and director emeritus of The Home Depot and former CDC Foundation board chair, with a congratulatory letter from President Bush for his leadership gift of $3.9 million to the CDC Foundation to help equip the EOC. CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding presented Mr. Marcus with a bas-relief plaque that will be installed in the Center.
In addition, 15 corporations that donated or discounted equipment for the center were also honored for their important contribution.
Benefactors, visiting dignitaries and press were given a private tour of the EOC, which had been activated March 14 to handle the shuttle disaster. After touring the facility Secretary Thompson, who has his own emergency operations center in Washington, D.C. commented, “I thought the one I had at the Humphrey Building was the best until I came here.”
Walking down the institutional cinder block hallways of CDC’s Roybal Campus, you’d never imagine that just below the linoleum floors there’s a world-class, emergency operations center resembling a sleek, ultra-modern air traffic control center.
Yet inside CDC’s high-tech, high-stakes Marcus Emergency Operations Center (EOC), there’s a constant buzz of activity as the world’s best and brightest scientists tackle emerging public health threats like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and West Nile virus.
This 7,000-square-foot windowless bunker is prepared for any emergency – from a disease outbreak to a bioterrorism attack. At the heart of the center is a theater-style command hub, surrounded by nine state-of-the-art team meeting rooms.
The command hub consists of long rows of curved counters, outfitted with more than two-dozen workstations. Overhead, discreet track lighting illuminates video walls and large plasma screens that beam images of live news feeds and maps pinpointing global public health hotspots. High- frequency radio support, satellite telephones, geographic information systems for disease mapping, and extensive videoconferencing capabilities enable health officials to gather and disseminate data worldwide, around the clock.
On this particular day in May, a group of scientists investigating SARS huddles together in one of the team meeting rooms adjacent to the command hub. Down the hall in the executive briefing room, placards identifying CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding’s leadership group remain on the table from an earlier mock bioterrorism exercise. CDC scientists are scattered throughout the EOC, stationed at several of the ergonomic workstations – many of which are equipped with desktop videoconferencing equipment that allows them to communicate face-to-face with colleagues halfway around the world.
The state-of-the-art facility is a sharp contrast to CDC’s previous makeshift setup in an auditorium, where card tables supported old computers, phone lines and wires were strung across a single room, and vital communications were conveyed through old-fashioned white boards.
Jeff Cook, EOC operations officer, explains that the center is essentially a “one-stop shop” for CDC personnel, supporting, organizing and managing all emergency operations at CDC. The EOC enables immediate, integrated communications between CDC; the Department of Health and Human Services; federal, state and local emergency response officials; the Department of Homeland Security; and state and local public health officials. Up to 60 people can work here without feeling crowded, but the EOC can accommodate 85 to 100 people.
“We have a lot of redundant systems here, so that the center is always operational,” says Cook, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who formerly headed up operations centers for the U.S. military. “If the power goes out, a back-up battery system can power the entire facility for 45 minutes. We have two back-up power feeds and the ability to interface with a generator if required. If we lose our phones, we have satellite communications. Our visual information system is very elaborate so that we can provide real-time information to keep everyone headed in the same direction. We operate three shifts, 24 hours a day, and we overlap those shifts to help ensure
continuity of information.”
Cook notes that this facility is a five-year interim solution until a permanent EOC is established in a new CDC building. Gazing around at the EOC’s high-tech gadgetry and soothing décor, it’s hard to believe it was built in an existing space in less than six months.
The process was accelerated when, through the CDC Foundation, Home Depot co-founder and chair emeritus Bernard Marcus pledged to add $3.9 million to existing federal funds to equip the center, calling on corporations for additional support. “Thanks to companies like Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Dell and many others, CDC now has a world-class operations center ready to handle any public health emergency that might arise. None of this could have happened without the CDC Foundation, which brokered the sensitive negotiations necessary for this public-private sector success,” said Marcus.
In addition to facilitating these partnerships, the CDC Foundation purchased much of the equipment, arranged for the evaluation and coordination of the equipment and even provided resources to assist with its installation. Collectively, Foundation staff spent over 800 hours working behind the scenes to help put the center into operation.
The EOC has already proven to be invaluable to CDC. It was activated after the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster in February to communicate with federal and state public health officials about possible health hazards from shuttle debris. More recently, CDC activated the EOC within hours of learning about the global spread of SARS.
“All people need to bring here is their technical expertise,” says Cook. “When SARS hit, we had the phones, computers, file systems and communications systems in place. We immediately had satellite phones and laptops ready to deploy. Everything was already here.”
-Lisa Splitlog