InfoGram

August 29, 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.

Critical Infrastructure Protection: A Major Priority

Even before the events of 9/11, the issue of critical infrastructure protection has been a part of the National Governors Association's (NGA) efforts in emergency preparedness. However, over the last several months, the NGA Center has worked with state homeland security directors and analyzed the states and territories' written responses to the Office of Homeland Security's request for state input into the National Homeland Security Strategy. State and territorial officials replied by identifying several major priorities and issues. Not surprisingly, they indicated that "state and local governments need help and technical assistance to identify and protect critical infrastructures."

According to an Issue Brief released by the NGA Center on 19 August, "state homeland security directors understand the interdependencies and volatility of shared assets, such as pipelines, communications, and power grids, and they have made protection of critical infrastructures a top priority." These officials indicated that it is a practical impossibility to protect every critical asset; therefore, states and local governments specifically need assistance to focus efforts and set funding priorities for those infrastructures that really need protection.

Clearly, state, county, and local leaders, including the chief officers of emergency first responders, must decide which infrastructures will be protected from attacks by people, nature, or HazMat accidents. Scarce dollars, personnel shortages, and limited time make these decisions difficult at best. How then, do these leaders determine the fewest indispensable infrastructures to receive protective measures? Again, the CIPIC advocates the implementation of the "CIP Process" to ensure the efficient protection of the people, physical entities, and cyber systems that are genuinely mission critical.

The "CIP Process" is an analytical model or template to guide the systematic protection of critical infrastructures. More basically, it is a reliable decision tool that focuses efforts in ultimately determining exactly what really needs protection as well as when. As a time-sensitive and resource-restrained practice, the "CIP Process" ensures the proactive protection of only those infrastructures upon which survivability, continuity of operations, and mission success depend.

To assist the leaders and managers of emergency first responders, as well as those of local government, the CIPIC developed the "CIP Process Job Aid" as a brief and user-friendly guide for the implementation of the "CIP Process." The "Job Aid" can be seen and downloaded from the following URL: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fire-service/cipc-jobaid.cfm

Radiation Detection Equipment

The U.S. Departments of Justice and Energy announced this week that they have joined in a cooperative effort called the Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse (HDER) Program. The purpose of the HDER Program is to enhance domestic preparedness capabilities by providing surplus radiological detection instrumentation and other equipment to state and local emergency first responder agencies nationwide. Their agreement is part of the larger federal effort to bolster the equipment and training available to the nation's emergency first responders.

A variety of equipment to measure the presence of radiation will be made available through this program. The equipment, which comes from Energy Department sites across the United States, will be evaluated and refurbished. The Justice Department will then work with established contacts in each state to identify appropriate users in their local emergency responder communities. After receiving communities have been selected, the Energy Department will deliver the equipment to these jurisdictions at no cost.

Training on the use of the equipment will be available to receiving communities through the Justice Department's Domestic Preparedness Equipment Technical Assistance Program (DPETAP). If requested, DPETAP will provide detailed technical information and hands-on equipment operation and maintenance training. Local support for the equipment, including calibration, maintenance, and follow-on refresher training will also be available.

A pilot phase for the HDER Program began on 1 July, within the nation's ten largest metropolitan areas including: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Additional information on the program can be obtained at the Energy Department's website: http://www.oakridge.doe.gov or the Justice Department's website: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/whatsnew/whats_new.htm

Preparations for Bioterrorism

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a federal agency in Atlanta, said this week that it has taken steps over the last year to increase preparations for a bioterrorist attack. The steps include hiring more staff members; opening new laboratories; improving the ability to detect microbiological and chemical agents; monitoring emergency rooms for certain ailments; adding more antibiotics and vaccines to the emergency stockpile; educating health care professionals; and teaching the newest epidemiologists how to quickly respond to an emergency.

CDC is conducting drills to mimic the chaotic effects of a bioterrorist attack. "It is planning to give its senior staff members and up to 1,000 state and local health leaders immersion training in working with emergency response agencies and the medical community," said an agency official.

The New York Times reported that the CDC now has more than 200 laboratories in its network throughout the country. "Each can test blood, urine, spinal fluid, and other specimens for microbes and chemicals that might be involved in a bioterrorist attack. There is at least one such laboratory in each state."