InfoGram

February 20, 2003

NOTE: This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the emergency management and response sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. It has been prepared by NATEK Incorporated for the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by email at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.

School Emergency Planning

The 13 February InfoGram contained a suggestion that emergency responder parents and guardians learn the emergency response plans of the schools their children attend. In a related matter, the 14 February issue of The Washington Post reported that most school districts in the (DC) metropolitan area "told parents that they would be prevented, or strongly discouraged, from picking up their children in the event of a biological or chemical attack." And, in Loudoun County, Virginia, school officials altered their emergency procedures by adding a "shelter-in-place" plan in the event of an attack. Additionally, some area school districts are planning to conduct regular lockdown drills to prepare for terrorism involving biological or chemical agents.

The "Spotlight on Smart Practices" page (http://www.fema.gov/onp/smartpractices.shtm) of FEMA's website has an overview of "shelter-in-place" procedures for a school district in Pasadena, Texas. Because 15 of the district's schools are located near chemical plants that line the Houston ship channel, school officials recognized the need to develop a precautionary emergency plan. More details about Pasadena's aggressive "shelter-in-place" program can be seen at the following URL: http://www.fema.gov/nwz03/nwz03_037.shtm.

In another area of the nation, school emergency planning conducted in Massachusetts provides an example that underscores first responder and school cooperation. The Executive Office of Public Safety, through the Department of Fire Services and the Massachusetts State Police, developed the School Emergencies: Community Pre-Planning Guide as a series of questions and recommendations to assist schools and communities in assessing the safety of their facilities and developing emergency plans.

The guide recommends that communities assemble a multidisciplinary planning team consisting of local public safety leaders, school administrators, and most importantly, those who must manage an emergency situation. "In reality this effort cannot be conducted effectively by any one group," said David Ladd, Director of the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Hazardous Materials Emergency Response, "because each community has different needs and developing plans locally by including those most familiar with the community and schools can help ensure maximum results."

The guide was not designed to tell communities how to develop their plans, but rather to offer a list of things to consider while developing a plan. The premise is that planners begin with internal facility pre-plans, and then work outward to include school grounds, the local community, and the community at large. It indicates that local community preplans should assess hazards to schools and their populations, e.g., chemical manufacturing and nuclear power plants.

The Massachusetts plan and many other school emergency planning documents are available at the National Institute of Justice's Technology Information Network (JUSTNET). To examine school emergency planning guidance, the specific URL is: http://www.nlectc.org/assistance/ssres_emergencyplan.html.

Disaster Planning for Children

A large group of child health and safety experts concluded a conference last week funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The event centered on the unique challenges a terrorist attack would create for the youngest patients and those who treat them.

"Disaster planning since the 9/11 attacks has focused on the needs and requirements of adults," said Irwin Redlener, M.D., Children's Health Fund President and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Task Force on Terrorism. He expressed that he and other attendees were particularly concerned about the possible lack of pediatric experience among most emergency first responders, although he pointed out that "children rarely have strokes, heart attacks or any of the other health problems that paramedics and EMTs are most familiar with."

In Doctor Redlener's remarks, reported in the 17 February edition of The Los Angeles Times, he made the following points:

• Children and young adults require smaller doses of vaccines and antidotes.
• Many of the treatments for chemical, biological, and radioactive attacks were devised with adults in mind.
• The skin of younger people is more porous and they breathe more rapidly so they could absorb more toxic material in less time.
• Because children are shorter and, therefore, closer to the ground, where toxic gases would be more concentrated or particulate matter would settle, children have an increased risk of exposure to chemical and biological agents.
• Children will need to be decontaminated in contained showers, with warm water to prevent hypothermia, and offer enough space for a parent to be with a child.

A conference executive summary is being rushed out within a week, and a full report of conference conclusions will be sent later to hospitals, health professionals, state and local emergency planners, and government officials.

Given the recent elevation in the Homeland Security Advisory System Level, the CIPIC realizes that the points listed above are noteworthy for the first responder community, whose advice, expertise, and cooperation are essential in contributing to the health, safety, and security of the nation's young citizens.

National Strategy for CIP

On 14 February, the Department of Homeland Security released a national strategy for protecting the nation's critical infrastructures from terrorism. In a forward to the document, entitled National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets, President Bush explained that the strategy provides a unifying structure, defines rules and responsibilities, and identifies major initiatives that will drive near-term protection priorities. Generally, the 96-page plan outlines what government and the private sector should do to safeguard infrastructures and assets vital to public health and safety, national security, governance, economy, and public confidence.

The leadership of emergency first responders should be aware that the document contains a page that discusses emergency services sector challenges. Another page specifies the five major federal government initiatives for the protection and response capabilities of the emergency services. The entire document is available for review at the following URL: http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/physical.html.

As detailed in the strategy plan, the emergency services sector protection and response initiatives include efforts to:

• Adopt interoperable communications systems.
• Develop redundant communications networks.
• Implement measures to protect the national emergency response infrastructure.
• Coordinate national preparedness exercises.
• Enhance and strengthen mutual aid agreements among local jurisdictions.

Preparing for Subway Emergencies

Since the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack in Tokyo (Japan), emergency first responders with a subway system in their jurisdiction have had ample opportunity to plan and rehearse response operations inside their system. The 18 February blaze in the Daegu (South Korea) subway dramatically reinforced the urgency to have thoroughly coordinated and approved response plans for underground emergencies.

Concerns for preparing or revising and practicing plans for subway operations should not be limited to the largest municipalities such as New York City and London. At these two locations firefighters, police, and transit authority personnel have been conducting drills and exercises for emergencies including biological, chemical, and radiological agents. However, their work can potentially serve as an example for other cities that have an underground system.

At least once during past several months, intelligence experts suspected that terrorist organizations were targeting the subway systems of American cities. If their information is credible, and it would be unwise to think it is not, then it will be especially prudent for fire and EMS departments to reexamine, revise, and exercise plans as necessary for underground contingencies.