InfoGram

June 16, 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.

Revising Emergency Plans

Community emergency planning is particularly imperative because it involves making crucial decisions prior to any man-made or natural disaster. It is a joint endeavor that determines how and when available critical infrastructures and key resources will be applied to prevent, protect, respond, and recover from all incidents. However, passing time and changing circumstances frequently alter the status and availability of the infrastructures and resources essential for plan execution. This reality necessitates periodic community stakeholder meetings to reconsider and revise emergency plans.

Periodic update of emergency plans in recognition of current capabilities can make a major difference in a community's survivability, continuity, and quality of life. Since there will be great dependency upon existing public and private infrastructures and resources, the EMR-ISAC offers the following ten basic considerations for municipal leaders (e.g., emergency managers and chief officers of first response departments) to help focus efforts, and budget time and assets during the plan revision process:

• Select reliable public and private sector liaisons as catalysts for the plan revision.
• Conduct joint meetings with community stakeholders and sector liaisons in attendance.
• Identify the skills and capabilities (i.e., infrastructures and key resources) available in the public and private components of the community.
• Resolve expectations for the use of public and private skills and capabilities during emergency planning and actual operations.
• Assess how these skills and capabilities can be combined to prevent, protect, and respond to incidents.
• Identify the "all-hazards" threats against the entire community.
• Decide how these threats will endanger or degrade community operations and services.
• Apply joint capabilities as feasible to counter the greatest risks to community operations and services from each identified threat.
• Arrange as necessary for mutual aid pacts and financial responsibility for sharing skills and capabilities during all incidents.
• Reinforce the National Incident Management System and the Incident Command System.

2005 Wildfire Season

This year's Wildfire Season will undoubtedly present additional challenges, perhaps beyond what has been experienced previously by communities and their first responders. In the past three years the wildland/urban interface created a new frontier requiring innovative rules of engagement, which demanded much more from fire departments. In today's rapidly expanding wildland/urban interface, firefighters are facing the probability for residential wildfire disasters at increasing frequency. Consequently, the necessity to protect the critical infrastructures of wildland firefighting organizations has never been greater. The EMR-ISAC asserts that this is particularly true for their personnel who are the foremost among internal critical infrastructures.

Many of the major forests throughout the country received some moisture this past winter and spring to dampen the fire danger; however, it has certainly not eliminated it. An abundance of dead trees and shrubs caused by the drought means an ample supply of dead fuel for fires. Furthermore, although the vegetation may be green now, a very short period of high winds and no rain will quickly dry it out. As of 16 June, the fire indices remain very high to extreme in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico.

On 10 June, a new Wildland Fire Outlook was posted by the Predictive Services Group at the National Interagency Fire Center. It can be viewed at: http://www.nifc.gov/news/intell_predserv_forms/season_outlook.html. Also, the U.S. Fire Administration compiled wildland firefighter safety information for the 2005 Wildfire Season at: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/subjects/wildfire/safetyinfo.shtm.

Sensitive Information Reminder

The departments and agencies of the Emergency Services Sector (ESS) have sensitive information susceptible to adversary intelligence collection. Sensitive information generally pertains to personnel, equipment, structures, operations, plans, and training. Domestic and transnational terrorists continue to covertly acquire ESS sensitive information because they can use it to weaken or destroy the morale, survivability, and continuity of first responders and the communities they serve.

Therefore, the EMR-ISAC reminds ESS leaders, owners, and operators to actively protect critical organizational information. Prohibit felons, arsonists, and terrorists from obtaining the following types of information by simply observing, checking websites, taking pictures, going through trash, or asking seemingly innocuous questions around stations and firehouses:

• Personal information about members.
• Equipment assets, apparatus, and emergency facilities.
• Operational plans, procedures, capabilities, training, and exercises.
• Logistics and acquisitions to support operations, etc.
• Communication/cyber systems.
• Automatic and mutual aid agreements.

Firefighter Safety Project

The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) have agreed to a joint project meant to enhance the risk management capability of local fire departments. The goal of this initiative is to enable fire departments to design effective risk management programs based on community hazards and service commitment, improve firefighter safety, and provide tools for continual evaluation of emergency response systems.

"This project will help fire departments in the assessment of risks in the community, which is key in the enhancement of firefighter health and safety," said Harold Schaitberger, IAFF General President. "This study will help us save lives." Further information about this initiative, as well as other USFA research studies in firefighter safety and health can be found on the USFA website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/research/safety.