InfoGram

December 5, 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.

9-1-1: A Critical Infrastructure

9-1-1 Communications Centers (also called Public Safety Answering Points) are crucial lifeline portals for citizens and an operational necessity for emergency medical personnel, firefighters, and police officers. Since their services directly influence the accomplishment of missions affecting life and property, these centers are critical infrastructures for communities and their first responders.

Given the rapid growth of cellular telephone usage nationwide, it is increasingly possible that cell phones might become a vulnerability to the 9-1-1 infrastructure. The potential for degraded 9-1-1 services exists for at least two reasons. First, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently stated that US networks are already struggling to handle calls because "local transmitters are too few or too small, or because the local airwaves have become too crowded and carriers are unable to obtain enough bandwidth." The FCC also indicated that complaints related to dropped calls or bad reception has risen sharply since 2000.

The second reason why cellular telephone use may become an infrastructure vulnerability was provided by 9-1-1 communications centers in the more densely populated areas of the country. According to the Los Angeles Times, some of these centers complained that "nearly half of their calls from cell phones were either not for an emergency or accidentally dialed." Such calls put an immense strain on an already overburdened emergency communications system, and "dispatchers fear the problem will grow with the proliferation of cell phones."

When community leaders (i.e., 9-1-1 directors, mayors, emergency managers, and chief officers of first responders) suspect that bogus and unintentional 9-1-1 calls are delaying legitimate ones on truly life-threatening situations, the CIPIC recommends consideration of an area-wide education campaign employing newspapers, radio and TV stations, and the Internet. To help alleviate this problem, several large cities also launched 3-1-1 telephone systems that encourage nonemergency calls and connect the callers to dozens of public agencies.

Citizen Emergency Preparedness

A growing number of emergency preparedness specialists or managers believe that an educated and prepared citizenry can minimize the horrendous effects of natural or manmade disasters. Indeed, some community leaders, accepting this as common sense, have taken active measures to ensure the benefits of citizen emergency preparedness.

For example, to foster citizen awareness and preparedness, officials of emergency-related agencies in Washington County, Maryland, recently offered a Citizens' Emergency Preparedness Day. The daylong event focused on helping the public to understand the types of disasters that could occur in their community, how to prepare for each, and how to create a disaster plan. Representatives from the emergency medical services, fire and police departments, American Red Cross, Neighborhood Watch, ladies auxiliary from a local hospital, and many others distributed information, gave demonstrations, and answered questions. There were even opportunities to attend classes and obtain certification in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

"Emergency preparedness is everybody's responsibility," said the Washington County Emergency Coordinator, Verna Brown, one of the primary organizers of the event. She believes that if the public becomes involved and conducts emergency planning for their own families, it will make the jobs of first responders easier. Ms. Brown also encourages people to become volunteers with different service organizations, to look for the vulnerabilities in their residential areas, to assemble family disasters kits, and to encourage their children's caregivers to do the same. The CIPIC maintains that the activities promoted by Ms. Brown will both directly and indirectly enhance the critical infrastructures protection of municipalities and their emergency first responders.

New Unclassified Operations Security (OPSEC) Program

Because of the mutually supporting and complementary relationship between operations security (OPSEC) and critical infrastructure protection (CIP), the CIPIC was informed that the Interagency OPSEC Support Staff (IOSS) will offer a new unclassified OPSEC training curriculum for leaders in emergency management, fire and rescue, infrastructure protection, and law enforcement. There are no tuition charges, but participating organizations pay their own travel and lodging expenses. All training is conducted within three days at the new facility in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Students who successfully complete the training will be able to apply OPSEC to: emergency planning; special operations such as HazMat, WMD, SWAT, and Bomb Squad; arson, intelligence, counterterrorism, and narcotics; criminal investigations; and special events.

An OPSEC program implemented within an organization can help keep personnel safe while executing their duties as emergency responders. An effective OPSEC program complements CIP by teaching personnel how to look at their operations from the perspective of the adversary. The expected results of a quality OPSEC program include:

• Reduced loss of life and injuries to response personnel by eliminating vulnerabilities that can be exploited by our transnational and domestic enemies.
• Prevention of the loss of critical information that adversaries can use to compromise emergency operations.
• Better arrest and conviction rates of terrorists and criminals by protecting critical information related to investigations.
• Improved credibility among federal, state, and local emergency response agencies.

There are other programs presented by the IOSS that are specifically designed for public safety agencies. For more information about OPSEC training, contact the IOSS Training Team at 443-479-4677, extension 2, or email questions to ioss@radium.ncsc.mil.

Update: The Insider Threat

Occasionally, it happens that the physical assets or cyber systems of emergency response organizations are threatened and degraded by inside personnel. For example, in July, two Maryland volunteer fire companies reported the theft of self-contained breathing apparatus units. This matter of firefighter equipment theft was first reported in the 19 September InfoGram.

After a four-month investigation, an assistant chief of one of the volunteer fire companies and a full-time 9-1-1 dispatcher was charged with theft of the breathing units as well as other equipment. According to the Frederick News-Post, the investigation discovered that the perpetrator had sold over $26,000 of stolen firefighting equipment on EBay as an attempt to recover from financial debt.

Therefore, the CIPIC suggests that it has become an unfortunate necessity for senior leaders to be generally aware of the personal (i.e., physical and mental) status of department personnel. An active and genuine interest in each subordinate may reveal problems that can be solved before they become injurious to the individual or the organization. The details of the incident described above reinforce why it is also essential to be completely aware at all times of the availability and functionality of department apparatus, equipment, and systems.