InfoGram

December 15, 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.

Making CIP Reasonable

To one degree or another, America's critical infrastructures are vulnerable and exploitable. This reality caused the Federal Government to take the lead in promoting critical infrastructure protection (CIP) throughout the public and private sectors of the nation. However, adequately protecting people, physical entities, and communication/cyber systems (i.e., critical infrastructures) carries a price tag that too many Emergency Services Sector (ESS) departments and agencies cannot afford.

The EMR-ISAC maintains that CIP can be reasonably time efficient and cost restrained for application by ESS organizations. This is so because the CIP philosophy espouses that everything cannot and should not be protected. Instead, the doctrine encourages department and agency decision makers to determine which internal critical infrastructures are credibly threatened by all hazards and also vulnerable to incapacitation by these same hazards.

An organization's resources should be invested in protecting only those internal necessities that are genuinely threatened and vulnerable. By following this CIP process of selection, the number of assets requiring protection will be significantly reduced. Once these few critical infrastructures have been identified, a risk assessment can determine which ones must be protected as soon as possible and which ones can wait for later corrective action.

For further guidance with this process, see the website at www.usfa.fema.gov/subjects/emr-isac. Alternatively, contact the EMR-ISAC at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov or at 301-447-1325.

Cold Weather Operations

Extreme cold weather in some parts of the United States in recent days again reminds Emergency Services Sector (ESS) leaders that the ordinary events of nature (e.g., cold and hot weather) can potentially diminish response capabilities and threaten critical infrastructures including emergency personnel. From an operational effectiveness perspective, extreme cold weather occurrences can be disruptive to the performance of duties and mission accomplishment.

To foster successful response-ability among first responders during "cold weather snaps," the EMR-ISAC offers the following thoughts gathered from multiple unofficial sources:

• Use warm clothing/turnout gear such as gloves whenever operating outdoors.
• Carry large amounts of cat litter or sand in each emergency vehicle.
• Carry a snow or flat shovel, flares, and lock de-icers in each vehicle.
• Carry extra window cleaning materials such ice scrappers and window-washer fluid.
• Review procedures for "dry pump" versus "wet pump" operations.
• Ensure availability and operating condition of tire traction devices.
• Inspect functionality of seatbelts and encourage their use.
• Encourage safe speeds and driving habits consistent with road conditions.

Mitigating 9-1-1 Degradation

The misuse and abuse of 9-1-1 call centers in many jurisdictions is a problem that exacerbates an already challenging working environment and degrades a critical infrastructure of the Emergency Services Sector (ESS).

Many 9-1-1 call centers explain that they are plagued by unintentional (misuse) and intentional (abuse) types of telephone calls. Unintentional phone calls include those caused by hang-ups, misdials, automatic dialing, and phantom wireless calls. The National Emergency Number Association estimates that in some communities, phantom wireless calls account for 25 to 70 per cent of all 9-1-1 calls. Prank, diversionary, lonely complainant, exaggerated emergency, and non-emergency calls fall into the intentional category.

Intentional and unintentional calls degrade this critical infrastructure by delaying responses, overtaxing call-takers and wasting their time, and by the monetary cost of handling calls that are not legitimate.

This information, as well as how a jurisdiction can analyze its local problem and implement corrective strategies, can be found in "The Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 9-1-1," a downloadable publication from the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. The succinct, four-page report also includes strategies and solutions contributed by call centers in various localities. A companion document, "Assessing Response Problems: an Introductory Guide for Police Problem-Solvers," explains how to measure the local problem before implementing responses and how to determine the success of responses.

Both documents can be accessed at http://www.popcenter.org/Problems/problem-misuse-911.htm.

The Role of the Emergency Manager

The 2005 hurricane season reminded the leadership of the Emergency Services Sector (ESS) of the benefits of understanding interrelationships to enhance seamless interaction among local and regional stakeholders. This is a matter of particular concern to emergency managers.

To ensure that the valuable role of the emergency manager is clear, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) produced the video "Principles of Emergency Management." In the first of its three parts, the importance of the planning and coordination undertaken by the emergency manager is emphasized. How the emergency manager supports the Incident Command System (ICS) is the focus of part two, while the third part demonstrates how the emergency manager uses communication to coordinate.

Designed primarily to support EMI's independent study course, Principles of Emergency Management, the 35-minute video of the same name can be used in conjunction with other courses or training venues to clarify the role of the emergency manager.

Single copies of the video (in DVD or CD format) can be ordered by sending an electronic request to Barbara Johnson, Higher Education Project Assistant at Barbara.Johnson@dhs.gov, telephone (301) 447-1452.