InfoGram

August 22, 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@fema.gov.

The Role of the National Guard in Infrastructure Protection

Under the day-to-day command of the states, territories, and District of Columbia, the National Guard is primarily funded, organized, equipped, and trained for conventional warfare. Nevertheless, by law and tradition, the Guard connects local communities to the federal government with capabilities that support state and local critical infrastructure protection. Located in approximately 3,100 American communities, they have the legal authority and structure to respond to both natural and man-made disasters with invaluable assistance to firefighters, police, and emergency medical personnel.

According to an article by the Heritage Foundation, the National Guard State Area Commands are well situated to supervise the quality training of state and local first responders in weapons of mass destruction and consequence management. The Guard maintains between 27 to 30 "civil support teams," who are trained and equipped to respond to a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) event. For these instances, the Guard can usually help state and local authorities to secure or protect personnel and crucial assets, maintain essential equipment, sustain operations in a CBRN environment, conduct mass evacuations, decontaminate large numbers of people, provide medical triage and treatment, and enforce quarantines if necessary after an attack.

The National Guard can also assist community leaders to assess their readiness level. These assessments should include the ability to communicate with other state Guard units and civilian authorities as well as to identify interoperability problems. Guard units are generally proficient in working with state and local officials to quickly rebuild "mitigating infrastructure" such as roads, bridges, dams, and other structures. They are additionally prepared to provide backup systems, such as power generation, water supplies and distribution, and communications systems.

Considering all that the National Guard can do within their respective states, the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation recommend that local governments make the Guard a large part of any emergency response plan. Local emergency planning committees can define how the Guard fits into their own response plans by thoroughly coordinating future support arrangements with their county or state emergency management office. Capitalizing on the strengths of the National Guard will significantly reinforce the protection of indispensable community and first responder infrastructures.

Recommendations for Improved Preparedness

Lessons learned for emergency first responders as a result of the events of 9/11 have been captured during a five month long study. Recognizing their relevance for the fire and emergency medical services throughout the nation, the major recommendations have been extracted from the report by McKinsey & Company, and are summarized below. The entire report can be examined by clicking on the following URL: (www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/mck_report/toc.html).

• Expand the use of the Incident Command System for emergency responses.
• Identify the needs of the community during major incidents and deploy necessary resources to meet those needs.
• Develop a formal, flexible procedure for recalling off-duty personnel.
• Activate agreements for mutual aid from agencies and departments in surrounding areas.
• Increase capabilities for dealing with hazardous materials and weapons.
• Study future needs, plan ahead for them, and efficiently manage the initiatives that will meet those needs.
• Update and expand procedures for exchanging operational information with other agencies and departments.
• Assess risks and threats across the community to create specific response plans for key locations.
• Prioritize training and investments in new resources to accomplish response plans.
• Improve the process to evaluate, acquire, and deploy technology and communications equipment and infrastructure.
• Improve radio communications to receive and disseminate critical information about incidents, and to accurately track all personnel and patients.
• Implement a broader and more flexible system for providing support services to members and their families.

Influenza: Another Threat to Personnel

Health experts are already beginning to encourage preparations for this year's flu season by the leaders of paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and other health care workers. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently indicated that paramedics and emergency medical technicians are especially vulnerable to complications from influenza. Therefore, health specialists caution that since manufacturers do not overproduce the flu vaccine because of its short shelf-life, orders for the vaccine should be submitted as soon as possible.

In an article by infection control consultant, Katherine West, she states that vaccination of all healthcare workers is key to reducing the risk for transmission of the flu from patient to care provider and vice versa. "Infection control efforts are a two-way street: protection of the healthcare worker from infection and protection of the patient."

Ms. West advises that vaccination is an employee benefit as well as a cost effective measure. "Offering the flu vaccine will reduce absenteeism and the cost of replacing ill employees." The CDC recommends that the best time to offer the vaccine to emergency response personnel is October, but no later than November.

The WeatherNet: An Infrastructure Protection Multiplier

The National Weather Service (NWS) and AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc. (AWS) recently announced a major new public-private partnership that will bolster the government's ability to respond to catastrophic events and protect lives and property. When a disaster occurs, the NWS will now acquire "real-time" weather data from the AWS WeatherNet network to provide very precise forecast models that can be used by incident commanders to make critical decisions.

According to their press release, the AWS WeatherNet network is a highly dense, nationwide commercial weather network that includes more than 6,000 automated weather station locations based primarily at schools. "The network will particularly aid response in major metropolitan areas, where AWS has a high concentration of weather monitoring stations in its inventory."

In the event of a biological or chemical attack, the NWS will now be prepared to quickly and precisely assess local weather conditions, such as surface wind speeds and temperatures, which could spread airborne hazardous materials and affect nearby communities.