InfoGram

July 18, 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.

Suspicious Filming

The June 6th InfoGram reported that a few fire and/or emergency medical service departments received electronic mail from foreign universities requesting information about plans, training, and operations. Since then, the CIPIC learned that other departments received phone calls from unknown persons and actual visits from apparent tourists with video cameras requesting the same kind of information.

Last week, three al Qaeda suspects were apprehended in Spain. They had in their possession five videos of American critical infrastructures and famous landmarks. Police said they were convinced the film footage was much too elaborate to have been done out of "touristic curiosity." The tapes contain detailed images of buildings, installations, bridges, monuments, airports, theme parks, etc., "with innumerable takes from all distances and angles."

A continuously growing amount of evidence substantiates that America's adversaries are aggressively collecting information about critical infrastructures, including those of emergency first responders. Websurfing, electronic mail, telephone calls, and now video photography are the common methods they employ. Intelligence experts indicate that terrorists study the information they obtain to identify existing vulnerabilities and to plan their attacks accordingly.

Therefore, all emergency service professionals must be reminded to guard against unauthorized data gathering about their departments (e.g., SOPs, personnel, and apparatus). Suspicious contacts and filming should be quickly reported when it occurs using the information seen at the bottom of this InfoGram. Failure to prevent unsanctioned "sensitive information" collection could unintentionally assist the criminal activities of those who desire to harm our nation and its people.

Water Infrastructure Threatened

Late last year, documents were found containing al Qaeda plans to disrupt the nation's water supply. More recently, manuals on how water treatment centers and utilities operate were discovered in Afghanistan. "Obviously, water treatment plants and pumping stations are high on the list of terror targets," Time Magazine reported.

Security experts speculate that terrorists would use truck bombs or other explosives to blow up pumping stations and pipes that serve cities and suburbs causing millions of people to lose their water supply almost instantly. But these specialists fear a more nightmarish scenario: "destruction of a city's water works just as hundreds of fires set the urban landscape ablaze."

Although the American Water Works Association believes that an attack on a water system may be a small possibility, the water utilities are using such frightening possibilities to lobby for more federal money. Industry specialists approximate that it will cost several billion dollars to bury exposed water mains and harden security around pumping stations, intake pipes, and other essential parts of water distribution systems. These same experts estimate it will take more than three years to adequately secure most water systems. Since terrorist have contemplated attacks on water supplies, fire departments throughout America are encouraged to review their plans and determine alternative courses of action for suppressing multiple fires when the hydrants are dry. Chief officers must consider reliable methods to protect citizens and critical infrastructures when there is no community system-generated water.

Wireless Technology for the Emergency Services Infrastructure

The emergency services, digital communications companies, and medical product manufacturers are cruising down the information superhighway at breakneck speeds to provide the best emergency health care possible. According to MERGINET.com News, "they are relying on wireless technology to help them do just that, because the technology has revolutionized the emergency health care industry from initial phone call to arrival on-scene to transport."

Wireless technology is "definitely something fire departments should look into," said Kevin Malone, a firefighter and EMT with the Midlothian Fire Department in Midlothian, Illinois. Firefighter Malone "was instrumental in implementing a wireless intranet system that contains data of vital interest to firefighters in his city." The system includes building plans, hazardous materials information, and facts solicited by questionnaire from local residents (e.g., health problems of building occupants, location of medications in homes, whether forcible entry may be necessary, etc.). The system also has a number of other benefits, including an instant messaging capability, which eliminates the necessity to use the radio frequency to communicate with the station.

Firefighter Malone insists that the system "has definitely proven its worth." He conveyed that in one recent case an individual dialed 9-1-1 reporting shortness of breath. "I punched up the address and learned the person had a history of heart problems," he said. "We knew going in what to expect." The Midlothian system is carried by four laptop computers. There is one laptop in each of the two basic life support units, one in the fire chief's vehicle, and one in a first response engine in the main station.

The CIPIC has also learned that a digital communications company teamed with the Las Vegas Fire Department to create a system that provides real-time video feeds from emergency vehicles to fire stations and medical care centers. A camera positioned near the front of the vehicle can transmit images of a fire back to the station, allowing officers there to decide whether more support is needed on the scene. Another feed provides live video footage of patients in the back of the vehicle. That information is relayed to the fire station, which can then pass it along to a hospital emergency room via the Internet.

The CIPIC cautions that the installation of wireless technology must include the latest available security measures for wireless systems to prevent unauthorized access to data as well as any disruption of services.

Emergency Evacuation Routes

The city of Baltimore, Maryland, has recently erected about 200 signs on major arteries that mark them as evacuation routes in case of a major emergency such as a terrorist attack. The signs have bright blue circles with white arrows. They are part of the municipal emergency action plan, which was revised after the September 11th attacks.

When advertised and accepted by Baltimore citizens, the signs will serve at least two important purposes that should be considered by other communities. First, they should facilitate the police-controlled, orderly, and safe exit from the city. City leaders hope that the signs will help reduce the chaotic mass evacuation of people usually resulting in car accidents with deaths, fatal arguments, destruction of property, and disruption of community services.

If departing residents comply with the signs and police instructions, another benefit will be that other non-posted main roads will be available to the emergency vehicles that must rapidly access the scene of an incident. The unimpeded movement of emergency first responders is the second and equally important reason for the signs.