InfoGram

January 23, 2003

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.

Emergency Management Lessons-Learned

The 19 December InfoGram presented a brief overview of a mock vaccination drill that was conducted recently in Phoenix, Arizona. On January 11, 2003, a similar drill was held in Arlington County, Virginia, after which the county deputy emergency management coordinator agreed to offer "lessons-learned" from the event. This article will relate Arlington's experiences in the CIPIC's continuing effort to acquire and disseminate information relevant to the infrastructure protection and emergency preparedness of firefighters and emergency medical personnel.

According to the county deputy coordinator for emergency management, officials in Arlington County were asked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct the drill as a time and motion study with the primary goal of learning how long it would take to administer 1,000 inoculations. Four hundred volunteers (some of whom took more than one turn) received a "smallpox vaccination." Actually, health care workers gave the simulated vaccine to oranges instead of in the arms of volunteers. CDC personnel were very interested in learning, for example, how many health care workers would be needed to administer the shots and how members of the public would move through the line.

The information gleaned from the preparation and conduct of this drill will be used to assemble an after-action report for the CDC. However, for the purpose of this InfoGram, the deputy coordinator shared the following experiences: first, not enough health care workers were available as "screeners" to check whether the vaccination was contraindicated for certain individuals; and, second, it is essential to plan for meeting the basic needs of patients as they wait to be inoculated. Basic needs would include, at a minimum, providing water or other beverages and adequate restroom facilities. During this drill, the local Red Cross set up a canteen. Additionally, because the Arlington County Health Department had considerable experience in giving vaccinations, personnel were aware that it would be necessary to recruit translators to assist at an actual inoculation exercise.

EMS personnel were tasked to provide at least two medical transport units in case patients suffered adverse reactions to the hypothetical vaccinations or were overcome by stress.

A Matter of Prioritization

In a 16 January New York Times article, Lydia Polgreen wrote that fire chiefs are public sector executives who must know many things. She stated that there are increasing demands for fire and EMS chiefs to fully understand team dynamics, financial programming, and master strategic planning. Ms. Polgreen concluded that these senior officers must also know how to lead their departments through troubled times since so many municipalities are currently in a fiscal crisis.

Assuming that Ms. Polgreen's statements are correct, then chief officers of the fire and emergency medical services should be prepared to make responsible decisions regarding the utilization of department resources. In this present environment of almost endless missions, requirements, threats, and vulnerabilities, the potential exists for unintentional waste and misguided spending. The CIPIC maintains that prioritization is paramount to avoid imprudent expenditures as well as to ensure emergency preparedness and critical infrastructure protection (CIP). Prioritization is the key behind the CIP process as explained in the USFA CIP Process Job Aid seen at: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fire-service/cipc-jobaid.cfm.

Since it is impossible to prepare for and to prevent all natural and man-made disasters, the CIP process will help chief officers to identify and protect only those personnel, physical assets, and cyber systems that are absolutely essential for the accomplishment of missions affecting life and property. Upon the selection of those very few indispensable department critical infrastructures, each is prioritized for the application of scarce resources. The CIPIC believes it is wise to consider these prioritized infrastructures a loss to plans and operations if they are not protected by countermeasures.

Bioterrorism Alert Monitors

The 22 January edition of the New York Times reported that the government is adapting environmental monitors scattered across the nation to detect bioterrorism. Each of the approximately 3000 monitors will be retrofitted with new filters to detect biological agents and provide early warning if smallpox, anthrax or other deadly germs are released into the air.

If a monitoring station detects something suspicious, samples will be sent to the closest of about 120 labs that are part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Laboratory Response Network. "Results from these labs would be available within 12 to 24 hours, depending on the tests being conducted," a CDC representative said. "The sooner health officials detect a bioterrorism incident, the sooner they can properly treat victims with vaccines or antibiotics and protect others who might become infected."

Security analysts indicate that an effective "disease surveillance" program must also be instituted through agencies that will respond to incidents which may involve biological agents. At minimum, "the emergency medical services (EMS) and public health agencies must be equipped to monitor, report, and analyze suspected outbreaks of specific diseases in real patients, and in real time."

The CIPIC recommends that all emergency first response organizations determine the location of any bioterrorism alert monitors in their respective jurisdictions. First responders should ascertain their responsibilities and how they will be affected when a monitoring station detects suspicious particles in the air.

Cold Weather Threat

The CIPIC learned that the extremely cold weather influencing many parts of the United States has disrupted heating systems in numerous firehouses. It is an obvious fact that the lack of heat in a fire station potentially jeopardizes the health and safety of firefighters. Equally as important, it could also negatively impact the ability of firefighters to perform fundamental missions in support of their community.

In yet another New York Times article, the author reported that "in some instances tanks of water stored on fire trucks had to be drained to keep them from freezing." The article continued that there were indications of malfunctioning heating systems possibly causing batteries of two-way radios to charge improperly. From an operational effectiveness point of view, neither of these effects of the cold snap is conducive to mission success.

Again, we are reminded about how even ordinary events of nature (i.e., excessive heat and cold) can degrade an organization's capabilities and threaten its most precious resource. The CIPIC suggests there is a lesson here that contradicts a popular adage that states: "forget the small stuff." Considering the vital services performed on a daily basis, fire and EMS departments already know they cannot afford to disregard "the small stuff." Indeed, chief officers must continue to persistently petition for the maintenance and repair of their physical plants including the internal systems.