Washington ? With a weeklong terrorism drill over, Homeland Security officials say they will put together a report outlining what worked and what didn’t in the agency’s third mock local, state and federal emergency response to an attack.

Either way, they say, with the lessons learned last week the country is better prepared for terrorist attacks.

“If an incident occurred tomorrow we’re going to be much better off,” said Robert Stephan, special assistant to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Despite promises Friday that they would shed light on shortfalls, Homeland Security officials said it was too early to pinpoint major gaps in the $16 million exercise dubbed TOPOFF3.

Still, they said, the process of local, state and federal officials working together has improved communications and fostered relationships. They also cited the increased role of the private sector.

Federal officials said they expected to release a report on the exercise in four to six months.

One Homeland Security official, however, said there could have been a better sharing of information. “That’s what exercises are for,” said the official, who asked not to be identified.

Meanwhile, federal officials said that as they gathered information they would act on improvements needed as soon as possible.

“We’re going to start implementing as soon we get the right information to correct any problems out there,” said Matt Mayer, acting director of the agency’s Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness.

The exercise, considered the largest and the most comprehensive, took place in New Jersey, where officials dealt with a mock pneumonic plague, and in Connecticut, where officials faced a chemical attack. Nearly 300 agencies from local police to hospitals participated.

Meanwhile, in Washington, officials from various agencies, including the Transportation and Defense departments and the FBI, gathered to map out emergency responses at the Department of Homeland Security’s command center. Many of the participants are the same officials who would respond in a real terrorist attack.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a member of the Homeland Security Committee, took part in the exercise, watching for hours as drama unfolded at a hospital in New Brunswick, N.J.

King said he watched workers handle streams of patients coming into the emergency room. There also was talk, he said, of a vaccines shortage.

“That’s why it’s good to do these dry runs,” King said. “No matter how much you do it on paper, until you do it on the ground there’s always going to be items that you overlook.”