Todd Stroger, who has been criticized in recent months by some northwest suburban officials for pushing through a county sales-tax increase, made an appearance at the drill in the Sears Centre arena in Hoffman Estates, albeit 10 minutes after the training exercise ended.
"This visit was just really to be a part of the many things the county does," Stroger said.
The drill, coordinated by the county's Department of Public Health, was intended to test how quickly more than 300 emergency personnel from 25 communities in the north and northwest suburbs could distribute medicine in the event of a health threat.
For four hours, the arena was converted into a giant pharmacy and medical center, where volunteers learned to register patients, screen them for possible side effects from medication and distribute pills that would be needed to treat an epidemic or act of bioterrorism.
Organizers had hoped that 2,000 to 3,000 volunteers would participate in the drill.
Though the turnout was disappointing, Hoffman Estates officials said they were pleased to see Stroger paying a visit to the northwest suburbs.
Earlier this month, officials in Palatine denounced Stroger's decision to cancel a scheduled appearance at a Village Council meeting at which he was to defend his $426 million tax increase. The sales-tax increase has prompted talk in Palatine and a few other suburbs of seceding from the county.
Some officials say they see little local benefit from the 1 percentage point increase in the sales tax.
During the brief stop at the Sears Centre, Stroger said he has regularly made trips to the northwest suburbs, mentioning a community forum at Harper College in Palatine and the allure of shopping at IKEA in Schaumburg.
Hoffman Estates Village President William McLeod said that since he took office in 2000, he couldn't recall Stroger making a public appearance in Hoffman Estates and that he thought such visits would help give suburban residents more of a feeling that the county doesn't want to "take their money and run."
"One appearance doesn't make a concerted effort, but it would be nice if he came out more," McLeod said.
The exercise, estimated to cost $80,000, was mandated and funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has called for health departments nationwide to coordinate drills since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Emergency personnel also staffed a practice command center in Barrington, where they simulated the phone calls and coordination that would have been needed to get medicine to 16 other sites in the north and northwest suburbs. The drill was the largest combined exercise the county's health department has ever orchestrated, said Kitty Loewy, a department spokeswoman.
In the weeks leading up to the drill, health officials reached out to local corporations and community residents seeking people to pose as pregnant women, allergic children and other personalities outlined in scripts provided for volunteers.
Health officials offered Sears gift certificates and free sports tickets for participation.
But with less than an hour left in the drill, slightly more than 300 people had walked through the ersatz medical stations, Loewy said. A few minutes later, organizers opted to have emergency personnel get up from their chairs and test the process themselves.
"It would have been nice to have as many people here as we could, but there still are many lessons learned," Loewy said.http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-hoffman-bigdrill-both-14may14,0,559024.story---
yeah, lessons like:
FUCK THIS SHIT! 
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