Emergency exercise: The SARS drill tests the alertness and co-ordination of responding agencies.

The Hospital Authority and the Government conducted a drill this morning to familiarise themselves with the contingency measures for handling SARS.

The exercise went smoothly, and the effectiveness of the arrangements and communication flow will be reviewed to enhance the measures and response plans.

After inspecting the drill at Eastern Hospital, Secretary of Health, Welfare & Food Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong said: "We have to ensure that relevant organisations take action swiftly in a co-ordinated way once the response mechanism is triggered. Their actions should complement each other so the disease can be quickly brought under control."

He said it is important a high level of preparedness is maintained at the hospital level.

The drill involved ground movement of patient transfers as well as the communication and reporting mechanism.

Participating in the exercise were the Princess Margaret, Yan Chai and Eastern Hospitals, along with Department of Health and Fire Services officers.