InfoGram

April 25, 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.

Linking the Infrastructure Protection Effort

Late last week, the Federal Government announced that it received unsubstantiated information that unspecified terrorists are considering physical attacks against American financial institutions in the Northeast. While the FBI had no information about any specific plot or threat to a particular bank, they transmitted an alert to law enforcement and financial institutions in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia. The decision to disseminate this threat information followed discussions among the FBI, Department of Justice, Office of Homeland Security, and Department of the Treasury as part of the National Homeland Security Advisory System.

Before and after the publication of this alert, numerous banks, state banking departments, and other officials began calling for more information or advice. Some of these calls were received at local police departments as well as state emergency management agencies. Even the CIPIC received requests for guidance. Too frequently, the queries made last Friday (19 April) yielded information of little or no value, because those being called were unaware of the alert at the time of contact.

This factual scenario presents an opportunity to encourage each state emergency management agency to initiate or refine an information sharing arrangement with its state attorney general office. The rationale for doing so is to ensure expeditious access to essential information necessary to protect critical infrastructures throughout the state. Local police and fire departments should review agreements with their regional communications center or local FBI field office for the same purpose. In most cases, these offices and centers receive alerts or warnings from the National Threat Warning System through the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System operated by the FBI.

To further promote outstanding communications from the highest to lowest levels of infrastructure ownership, the CIPIC recommends that state response plans be evolving documents patterned after the Federal Response Plan (www.fema.gov/r-n-r/frp/frpglnc.htm). Ideally, state response plans will establish an infrastructure protection linkage which includes federal departments and agencies, state government departments and agencies, county governments, local governments, emergency first response departments, medical facilities, adjacent states, and private organizations. On the local level, the CIPIC also urges a cohesive and cooperative association between police and fire/EMS departments. More than ever before, firefighters and paramedics are dependent upon their police for both essential information and protection.

Protecting People from Possible Anthrax Attacks

Medical researchers write that if terrorists attack with anthrax, the first warning could come from the sales of flu medicine. Since the early symptoms of inhaled anthrax are similar to the flu, doctors at Carnegie Mellon University believe a sudden jump in flu medication sales could alert authorities before victims become ill enough to seek medical attention. Officials would have to confirm the disease before publishing an alarm, however, and a system to distinguish between anthrax and a flu outbreak would have to be developed.

Currently, scientists watch sales of antibiotics to find unusual outbreaks of disease. The system proposed by the Carnegie Mellon researchers would extend that to over-the-counter medications. Doing this, with the ability to quickly identify the early symptoms of anthrax, could give a head start toward reducing the number of deaths if an attack occurred. Caught in its early stages, treating anthrax with antibiotics greatly improves the chances for survival. The flu-like symptoms of anthrax can persist for up to three days before becoming more severe, but once the severe stage begins, then death can result in as little as two hours, according to medical experts.

There is a message here for firefighters and emergency medical technicians: watch your family members, colleagues, and citizens of the municipality for symptoms of the flu. If there is evidence of a possible flu outbreak, immediately notify your chief officers and local medical facilities to consider the possibility of an anthrax attack. Encourage the hospital staff to conduct discreet testing to confirm the flu or otherwise. Maintaining situational awareness and taking bold steps to motivate action are necessary leadership skills for the 21st Century front line forces of the emergency response community.

Dirty Bombs Affect Critical Infrastructures

A captured al Qaeda field commander told interrogators that his network knows how to build terror weapons capable of dispersing radioactivity over a large area. "Dirty bombs," which are sometimes called radiological dispersal devices, use conventional explosives to scatter industrial or medical-grade radioactive material in a populated area to cause widespread fear of exposure.

The damage is not caused so much by the explosion, but by the intense radiation that would be released into the atmosphere. Depending on factors ranging from the bomb's construction to wind direction on the day of use, a potent "dirty bomb" could kill a few people quickly if they were exposed to enough radiation. Others who were less exposed would probably develop cancer in the years to follow. Hospitals would certainly be overrun by worried people from the general area of the explosion.

In addition to incapacitating the personnel infrastructure in the affected area, a radiological device detonation will require massive evacuations, extensive decontamination, and destruction of buildings, all of which grievously impair the economy with expenses reaching in the billions of dollars. Additionally, there is no doubt that "dirty bombs" will dangerously degrade the critical infrastructures of emergency first responders from any locality at or near the explosion site.

Experts write that "dirty bombs" are not difficult to build. They indicate that the nuclear waste material needed to construct radiological dispersal devices are accessible to domestic and foreign terrorists, as security surrounding the transportation and storage of nuclear waste material has been historically lax. As recently as this past January, a 300 pound package containing radioactive iridium was shipped via FedEx from Paris to Louisiana, where it was found to be leaking radiation.

Given the realities discussed above, some security officials believe critical infrastructures at all levels are highly threatened by a radioactive burst within the United States. Therefore, when a suspicious or unexplainable explosion occurs anywhere, the CIPIC urges the immediate use of radiation detection equipment where available, prior to the deployment of rescue personnel and their equipment.

Weather Versus Critical Infrastructures

Much time and energy has been directed toward preventing or mitigating the effects of a terrorist attack on American critical infrastructures. However, the recent deadly tornadoes that hit Illinois, Oklahoma, and Texas remind us that weather events more frequently degrade or disrupt critical infrastructures throughout the United States. Injuries, deaths, damaged business buildings, destroyed homes, and downed power lines are just some of the devastating results of natural attacks on the people and property required for the continuity of life and work.

The CIPIC teaches that natural attacks are caused by nature (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, etc.). These attacks are serious "threats" against the critical infrastructures of fire and EMS departments as well as those of the local government. They have the tremendous potential to incapacitate the personnel, physical entities, and cyber systems essential for the accomplishment of missions affecting life and property. Therefore, those departments located in areas susceptible to natural attacks must plan to reduce their vulnerabilities by implementing countermeasures as soon as scarce resources permit. The CIPIC advises pursuing corrective actions through the auspices of the local emergency planning committee.