On Tuesday, the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services will begin the 2025 Fire on the Horizon: Pacific Health Security Exercise, which will test both local and regional capacity to respond to an emerging infectious disease over the course of four days.
It’s the first time that DPHSS will be participating in the full-scale health security exercise in partnership with the Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network, Health Security Partners and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “As the training week progresses, the team will identify the disease and adapt their response activities to control and prevent further spread. The disease will be (an) outbreak-prone disease that will invoke the response efforts of the epidemiology, surveillance, environmental health and clinical service teams,” DPHSS Director Theresa Arriola told The Guam Daily Post.
The exercises aim to prepare Guam for both regional and local emergencies by assessing weaknesses in Public Health’s outbreak response plans. “The exercise will identify areas in DPHSSโ outbreak response plans that require improvement or updates and will cover aspects including surveillance strategies, response priorities, communications and multi-agency coordination,” Arriola said.
The exercise will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and will include activities occurring across the agency.
