InfoGram

August 25, 2005

NOTE: This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. 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.

"Struck-by" Incidents

August 17, 2005 was a phenomenally bad day for first responders according to the Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI). During that day two police officers and one firefighter were killed in "struck-by" incidents. On that same day, two more law enforcers were critically injured after being struck by moving vehicles. Fearing that "struck-by" occurrences will increasingly jeopardize the safety and operations of the most precious of critical infrastructures-personnel-the ERSI has been developing best-practices for consideration by the rank and file of emergency departments and agencies.

The EMR-ISAC reviewed the ERSI recommendations for first responders working traffic scenes. Recognizing that the proposals can enhance the protection of personnel, they are briefly summarized as follows for the convenience of Emergency Services Sector organizations:

• Wear high-visibility (fluorescent and retro-reflective) safety vests around moving traffic.
• Wear firefighting turnout gear and bullet-proof vests for extra protection.
• Be constantly vigilant of surroundings and never turn your back to traffic.
• Always have a quick way to escape from an approaching vehicle.
• Minimize the paperwork completed on the side of the highway.
• Get as far away from the travel portion of the road as practical.
• Park as far off the side of the road as possible.
• Angle your vehicle if tactically appropriate.
• Be wary of wet or icy conditions when emergency responders are more vulnerable.
• Acquire rapidly deployable emergency traffic units from state or local highway departments.

Public-Private Partnerships

Most leaders of the emergency services acknowledge that "homeland security begins at home." The EMR-ISAC agrees because protection of the nation's critical infrastructures necessitates an excellent local public-private partnership for planning and preparedness against all hazards. These partnerships should respect and capitalize on the interdependent connections among community critical infrastructures. Understanding and acting upon these interdependencies will potentially reduce the cascading effect on all aspects of a community when a disaster strikes.

The Department of Homeland Security encourages the expeditious formation of local public-private partnerships yielding operational relationships that provide interagency support for emergency plans and operations. Therefore, the EMR-ISAC researched some recommended guidelines for the "forming stages" of new cooperative partnerships. These suggestions are abridged as follows:

• Define the problems, goals, and objectives.
• Establish a common frame (terms) of reference.
• Identify capabilities, functions, and responsibilities.
• Develop mutually beneficial actions through unity of effort.
• Capitalize on knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Reinforce the National Incident Management System and Incident Command System.

Emergency Services-Public Works Partnership

When considering the many important relationships among the critical infrastructures of a community, the EMR-ISAC believes there should be an outstanding one between the local emergency services and public works department. A long history of incident responses throughout the nation verifies the role of public works as a vital part of an integrated response. American Public Works Association (APWA) documents clarify how public works fits into the planning and execution continuum and why their personnel, equipment, and experience are so essential to successful disaster response and recovery operations.

The EMR-ISAC endorses a constructive partnership between the emergency services and public works. The history of disaster responses substantiates that public works provides significant support to major emergency operations in the following basic ways excerpted from APWA sources:

• Assists in planning, response, and recovery from most hazards.
• Contributes with logistical and technical expertise.
• Integrates into most response and recovery operations.
• Provides water, heavy equipment, barricades, lights, communications, etc.
• Enhances the overall effectiveness of on-scene activities.

To prepare for an exceptional partnership with public works, see the fact sheet entitled: "The Essential Role of Public Works in Emergency Management," at the APWA website: http://www.apwa.net/documents/about/pet/emergency/em_fact_sheet.pdf (PDF, 3.8 Mb, Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Help).

Avoiding Lost Time and Money

In recent speeches, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff called on the nation's critical infrastructure leaders, owners, and operators to make the "tough choices" regarding the application of scarce resources to protect their infrastructures. He emphasized the need to allocate limited resources more effectively to guarantee that "critical" infrastructures are adequately protected from all hazards, particularly terrorism.

Secretary Chertoff affirms what critical infrastructure protection is really all about-the protection of national, state, and local infrastructures that are truly "critical" or indispensable to America's survivability and continuity of operations before, during, and after man-made and natural disasters. The EMR-ISAC generally categorizes the critical infrastructures of the Emergency Services Sector as the personnel, physical assets, and communication/cyber systems that must remain intact and operational 24x7 to ensure response-ability. The EMR-ISAC further maintains that time and money invested on the protection of these "critical" sector components should be the high priority. A return on investment, including enhanced mission assurance, frequently results when resources are applied to credibly threatened and vulnerable "critical" infrastructures.

For more information: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/doc/cipc-jobaid.doc.