The Department of Homeland Security has released preliminary results (.pdf file) from a 2007 national exercise that tested terrorism preparedness and response among top officials.

Top Officials 4, also known as TOPOFF 4, was the fourth exercise in a congressionally mandated series and involved more than 23,000 participants from the local, state and federal levels, as well as the private sector. The event – conducted between Oct. 15 and Oct. 29 – focused on prevention, incident management and public information in the lead-up to, and fallout from, a fictional radiological attack.

Among the preliminary findings from the drill, based on observations from participants, were:

• Government departments and agencies lacked "critical information" at times during emergency management.
• Private-sector participants reported difficulty integrating into some of the responses.
• Public information officers had difficulty obtaining information on response activities.

The report listed several recommendations for improvement and corrective actions. DHS said it considered the exercise successful in making improvements from previous exercises, and the report highlighted several strengths observed during the drill.