InfoGram

April 4, 2002

NOTE: This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the emergency services sector with news and information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information please contact the U.S. Fire Administration's Critical Infrastructure Protection Information Center at (301) 447-1325 or email at usfacipc@dhs.gov.

Complacency: Another Enemy of CIP

Security at the federal, state, and local levels of our nation is now tighter than ever before in the history of the United States. Leaders at all levels of government with the assistance of countless citizens have successfully identified and protected critical infrastructures necessary for continuity of government, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is probably accurate to write that this "security tightening" significantly helped to preclude additional terrorist attacks on the American people.

However, the results of recent unscientific national research indicate that after nearly seven months since 9/11, there is a growing relaxed atmosphere–a toning down of overt protection measures at numerous public and private venues–throughout the country. It appears to the researchers that complacency may be increasing among too many Americans at too many locations. Regarding this complacency, a State Commissioner of Public Safety said: "It’s understandably natural for people to relax a little bit, but those whose job it is to keep people safe can’t afford that luxury." He continued that a lot of people have become relaxed because they decided an attack will never occur in their small or rural community.

The CIPIC suggests that the complacency discussed above can become problematic for critical infrastructure protection (CIP). Indeed, it can become another enemy of CIP. Those individuals who believe their current protection measures are "good" must remember that the "good" is often the enemy of what is "better" for the community. Small and rural communities are not exempt from a future attack by domestic or international terrorists. Their infrastructures are just as vulnerable to extremist activities as larger cities. Therefore, the CIPIC urges the leaders of the fire and emergency medical services to combat complacency. Emergency first responders must remain vigilant and continue to protect their critical infrastructures as quickly as resources permit.

Enhancing CIP through Mutual Aid Agreements

Emergency first responders from the small and rural areas of fewer than 5,000 people have numerous response challenges. Most of these communities rely upon volunteer departments with seriously limited resources. Too often, the genuine protection of critical infrastructures in these areas will take several years of planning and applying scarcely available resources. It should be no surprise that in a recent survey by the National Association of Counties, less than 10 percent of the largely rural counties replied that they are capable of responding to a terrorist attack.

This past week, the White House announced that one of the best strategies to build capability in communities outside major metropolitan areas is to develop mutual aid agreements to share resources. These agreements will enable first responders in neighboring jurisdictions to share specialized resources essential for critical infrastructure protection, rather than duplicate them in every jurisdiction. Mutual aid processes will help ensure that rural communities and suburban areas across the United States can benefit from each other’s CIP efforts, and simultaneously, improve their response capabilities.

President Bush’s 2003 budget provides $140 million to assist communities in planning and establishing mutual aid agreements. Although mutual cooperation and aid agreements have existed in support of civil defense, fire service, and National Guard activities, this is the first time that the federal government will directly subsidize the development of such agreements. Hence, the CIPIC applauds this 2003 budget proposal, and encourages small or rural departments to initiate planning with neighboring communities to eventually avail themselves of this money to bolster their mutual protection and response capabilities. During a speech in South Carolina, President Bush said: "If one town has a good hospital facility, another may be able to lend fire trucks, a third may be a home to hazardous material experts, but we’ve got to develop these mutual pacts so that we can coordinate efforts, pool resources, all aimed at helping a neighbor in need."

Quality Training Supports CIP

At least twice previously the CIPIC expressed that firefighters and EMTs are the foremost critical infrastructure of the fire and emergency medical services. As such, these volunteer and career personnel on the front lines of domestic emergencies deserve the best available training. Realistically, the quality of the training they receive is contingent upon available resources. Moreover, successful training depends on the attitude of the chief officer and the skill and dedication of the training officer.

Department trainers have the crucially important responsibility to train personnel to fight, survive, and win on each and every fire or emergency battlefield–including contaminated ones. Obviously, training first responders on how to survive in the heat of battle profoundly contributes to the protection of the most critical of all infrastructures. Additionally, the preparation and execution of quality training can also teach and rehearse personnel on how to protect other critical infrastructures when performing their heroic duties.

In consideration of this, the CIPIC encourages all training officers to know the department’s critical infrastructures, to understand how these infrastructures have been protected or not protected, and to appropriately apply this information when planning and conducting training events. Even more ideally, a truly thorough department trainer will learn about the critical infrastructures of the municipality and incorporate instruction on how to protect them when responding to nearby or adjacent incidents.

CIP Benefits of Dispersal and Distribution

Spurred by the tremendous disruptions to operational continuity caused by the attacks of 9/11, many American companies dispersed their leadership and distributed their critical infrastructures where practicable and affordable. This decentralization of critical assets will substantially strengthen the protection and perseverance of organizational infrastructures according to a consensus of security experts. Separating critical personnel, physical entities, and cyber systems readily supports critical infrastructure protection.

The CIPIC proposes that dispersal and distribution of indispensable resources may be a matter for further consideration by the fire and emergency medical services. Although usually contemplated and enforced as part of onsite incident management, should there not be more thought given to doing so before an incident occurs? There can be ample opportunities to proactively do this during the next review of department emergency response plans. At this time, reviewing officers can decide how to appropriately incorporate decentralization so as to protect the department’s critical infrastructures when responding to an event and performing essential duties.

The GuardNet Intranet

The Army National Guard (ANG) took part in a homeland security exercise during March 2002. ANG provided its intranet, known as GuardNet, to allow public safety agencies and ANG personnel to coordinate their response to simulated terrorists acts in cities nationwide. Federal Computer Week reported that GuardNet served as the backbone for the Domestic Emergency Response Information Service, an information portal for federal, state, and local personnel responding to emergencies. "The service is designed to link first responders to existing information resources and networks."

The exercise scenario allowed emergency first responders to "come as you are" with various technologies, from handheld devices to laptops, and still be able to share information with each other and to access their base resources. "The exercise goal was to eliminate communication as the hardship." It focused on using GuardNet as a part of the homeland security efforts supporting the emergency response service team. "The biggest obstacle was working through the firewalls and intrusion detection systems of the participating agencies." ANG officials believe the time to overcome these obstacles will decrease as collaboration and cooperation increase in the future.