InfoGram

July 11, 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.

FEMA To Fund WTC Health Impact Registry

To track the long-term health of up to 200,000 people who might have been exposed to toxic substances after the WTC attack, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide $20 million to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The registry, scheduled to launch late this year or early in 2003, will create a database to help officials make decisions in the event of another disaster that involves the collapse of buildings. Officials hope to learn whether the exposure of affected people to such substances as fibrous glass and asbestos led to short- or long-term health problems, according to CNN.

To reach those affected, ATSDR will use a marketing and media campaign, coupled with a toll-free phone bank for people to report health issues. After the affected people have been identified, ATSDR spokeswoman Kathy Skipper said, they will be tracked for 5 to 20 years. Results will be released to registrants first, and then to the public. FEMA's funds will be used both to launch the registry and continue it through 2003, after which it will be funded by HHS.

NEMA Report on State Homeland Security Structures

The National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) and The Council of State Governments (CSG) recently conducted a joint survey of the 50 states and District of Columbia to determine the organizational structure of each state to address terrorism preparedness. The study is the first of its kind to examine these structures, and revealed that, while all states had an existing structure in place to deal with issues of terrorism preparedness and response, all were re-evaluated following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The re-evaluation prompted most states to create additional structures or to modify those in existence to address issues of terrorism preparedness and response.

The report points out that, despite the creation of new offices or positions, most states indicated that primary planning activities for homeland security remain the responsibility of state emergency management, law enforcement, public health, and other key agencies.

The full report, State Organizational Structures for Homeland Security, as well as NEMA's December 2001 report, Trends in State Terrorism Preparedness, can be seen at the following URL: http:/www.nemaweb.org/index.cfm.

25 Additional Cities to Receive Disaster Preparedness Funds

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced $10 million in funding to add 25 more U.S. cities to the Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) program, an effort by the HHS Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) to develop a rapid, coordinated medical response to large-scale public emergencies.

The HHS funds are to help cities to coordinate emergency first responders, public health systems and hospitals to better respond to the needs of their citizens in times of crisis. So far, 97 cities have been helped under the MMRS program, beginning with Washington, DC as the development city, followed by Atlanta in 1996.

While HHS/OEP has approached MMRS development from two perspectives - chemical and biological - the two planning approaches converge at the same point: greater focus on health system response.

Currently, efforts under the MMRS program seek to focus on immediate site-specific response capability, enhance existing capabilities, develop overall systems plans, raise awareness of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) agents, enhance capability to operate in contaminated environments, and develop specialized treatment protocols for WMD victims. Among its goals are to integrate biological preparedness into the overall planning process, and to develop plans for mass patient care, mass fatality management, mass prophylaxis of exposed and potentially exposed populations, and environment surety.

By contractually requiring metropolitan areas to develop these elements, MMRS program officials seek to assure that the overall system will have a coordinated response capability. That means that at the local level, communities will be capable of responding to WMD incidents and more prepared for the more common hazardous materials incidents.

Additional information about the MMRS program can be seen at the following URL: http:/mmrs.hhs.gov.

CIP Exercise Reveals Vulnerabilities

An exercise to help responders learn how failures in one industry segment can affect other sectors was the second of two critical infrastructure protection exercises that have been conducted by the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, a public/private partnership created by five U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.

The most recent exercise, held on 12 June, followed a November 2000 mock disaster drill in Salt Lake City that was designed to assist responders in understanding how the effects of a major terrorist attack or natural disaster could be made significantly worse by a simultaneous cyberattack.

The November 2000 drill, code-named Black Ice, and the 12 June exercise, code-named Blue Cascades, both featured prolonged power outages that were accompanied by natural gas infrastructure and telecommunications failures stemming from unknown causes, according to a consultant who took part in both exercises and reported that response and reconstitution of services were hampered by infrastructure interdependencies.

Because the Pacific Northwest's infrastructure systems are highly integrated with Canada's, there was a need for what state and local officials characterized as a multiyear effort to develop a "disaster-resistant region," according to a recent article in Computerworld.

As mentioned in the 04 July InfoGram, the advocates of critical infrastructure protection firmly believe that the survivability and continuity of operations of local government and emergency responders will depend on quality planning, thorough coordination, and periodic rehearsals.