San Diego health care providers will join their statewide counterparts this month in a test of their ability to handle biological terrorism.

This is the fifth statewide Medical & Health Disaster Exercise to be held and incorporates hospitals and other health care providers, including long-term care, clinics and pre-hospital care, auxiliary communication networks, ambulatory services, blood banks and local and regional governmental agencies. This year, local public health departments have been invited to participate.

All the San Diego hospitals and many clinics are participating. This will be a real enactment and include issues and challenges that would confront the state in the event of bioterrorism. Providers will respond to “paper” patients to make diagnoses, administer treatment and complete required paperwork.

The exercise is scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. Nov. 13. Participants will try to complete all tasks, however, patient care will come first.

The scenario is a plague that will exercise the response of health care providers and governmental agencies to manage large numbers of ill and infectious patients. Hospitals will overflow, testing laboratories will back up and medical staff will be shorthanded as doctors and nurses call in sick, either from the plague or afraid of coming into contact with it and carrying it back to their families. Many levels of participation are available and involvement of any kind in the exercise will help communities be better prepared should an actual disaster occur.

Last year, nearly 400 health care providers, more than 50 ambulance providers and nearly every county in California participated.

— Maria L. Kirkpatrick