InfoGram

March 17, 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.

Reporting Urgency

Time magazine reported on 13 March that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is planning attacks on "soft targets" in the United States, according to comments by a former top aide to the terrorist. Stephen Hadley, the White House National Security Advisor, stated this week that the comments by the informant are probably credible. "We know that al-Qaeda has not given up their aspirations to attack targets in the homeland," he said, adding that "soft targets are the kinds of targets we know al-Qaeda has traditionally been concerned about."

The EMR-ISAC agrees that the personnel, physical assets, and communication/cyber systems (i.e., the critical infrastructures) of the Emergency Services Sector (ESS) are among the "soft targets" of this nation. Therefore, the EMR-ISAC must continuously encourage ESS members to report suspicious incidents or activities to the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC) by voice at 202-282-9201, email at nicc@dhs.gov, or facsimile at 703-607-4998. Given the prevailing threat to "soft targets," Homeland Security officials explained that it is important and urgent to submit a report to the NICC in addition to local authorities.

The decision to report unexplainable behavior, strange objects, and unusual circumstances is an individual and local matter where common sense must prevail. To assist the decision process, the EMR-ISAC offers the following abbreviated listing as an example of what to look for and consider for reporting purposes:

• Unexplainable behaviors
  - excessive nervousness
  - facial and activity concealment
  - clothing inconsistent with the area/weather
  - uniforms inconsistent with activity
  - use of binoculars, cameras, night vision devices
  - making notes or sketches
  - loitering in sensitive areas
  - sitting in parked vehicle for no apparent reason
• Strange objects
  - bottle or pipe with attached wire or battery
  - briefcase, package, or bag in a questionable location
  - common objects of value left unattended
• Unusual circumstances
  - two or more people experiencing unidentified odor, coughing, nausea, or blurred vision
  - agitated person entering a sensitive area, looking around, and quickly departing
  - non-traditional use of specialty vehicles such as an emergency vehicle or delivery truck
  - specialty vehicles parked in uncharacteristic places such as a gas truck at a school
  - unidentified vehicles parked in sensitive areas

Spontaneous Volunteer Management

American history has outstanding examples of the exceptional services provided by volunteers during periods of crisis or disaster. Among these are countless instances where communities used spontaneous volunteers for a variety of reasons. Lessons learned from these experiences substantiate that spontaneous volunteers are often a good resource for specialty tasks. Furthermore, their utilization gives these volunteer community members some ownership of the catastrophe.

Many of the people who want to help when disaster occurs have not connected with volunteer organizations such as the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) (http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/CERT/), Citizen Councils, AmeriCorps, etc. This reality occasionally challenges local emergency managers and the leaders of first responders. Therefore, community decision-makers must contend with the possibility that unaffiliated volunteers could be more hindrance than help.

The Volunteer Management Committee of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) developed concepts of operation to serve as guidance in planning for and managing unaffiliated volunteers during all phases of emergency management and response. The concepts are contained in the NVOAD publication: Managing Spontaneous Volunteers in Times of Disaster: The Synergy of Structure and Good Intentions. The intent of this booklet is to provide recommendations on structure and process based on best practices in the field, while at the same time allowing flexibility for adaptation to specific local communities and various types of disasters. This user-friendly publication with checklists for the underlying planning principles can be downloaded at: http://www.nvoad.org/ManagingSpontaneousVol.pdf.

CIP through Partnership Building

Whether or not critical infrastructures have been adequately protected is an ongoing concern of federal, state, tribal, and local governments, along with major corporations. Although numerous municipalities, counties, and states have implemented effective protection programs, many other public and private organizations are still struggling with identifying and protecting their critical infrastructures.

One model that could mutually benefit the public and private components of a community is the partnership for emergency preparedness program called "CIP-Community Facilitation," developed at Michigan State University. Information from this program was used to produce the document entitled Critical Incident Protocol: A Public and Private Partnership. This 42-page "how-to" publication can be downloaded at: http://www.cj.msu.edu/~outreach/CIP/CIP.pdf.

When protecting the nation's critical infrastructures, the CIP-Community Facilitation Program, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, creates a true public-private partnership for planning, preparedness, and prevention against critical incidents, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction. To acquire more information, contact Mr. Brit Weber, Program Manager, at 517-432-9236, or at weberbr@msu.edu.

Railroad Operating Practices for HazMat Transport

The Association of American Railroads released Circular Number OT-55-G, dated 1 March 2005, which offers recommended railroad operating practices for the transportation of hazardous materials (HazMat). The circular includes recommended road and yard operating practices, designation of key routes, proposed separations from HazMat storage areas, and training of transportation employees. This document also discusses the implementation of the Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response (TRANSCAER) Program, a national community outreach endeavor to improve community awareness, emergency planning, and incident response for the transportation of HazMat.

TRANSCAER objectives include assisting communities and their Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) in assessing HazMat safeguards, and planning for and responding to HazMat transportation incidents. An additional purpose of the TRANSCAER program is to overcome the opinion that every single local emergency responder must have the expertise and equipment to respond personally to a HazMat emergency. Instead, it promotes the consolidation of first responder skills and resources with those of industry to enhance capabilities and to provide for a better managed emergency response system.

Contact information can be seen on the cover of Circular NO. 0T-55-G, which can be downloaded using the following link: http://www.kuce.org/fst/news/CPC-1165.pdf.