InfoGram

October 6, 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.

Recognizing Infrastructure Interdependencies

Man-made and natural disasters during the past five years have repeatedly substantiated the interdependencies among the nation's critical infrastructures. Within this short period of time, catastrophic events created cascading disruptions in essential services that support life, health, safety, security, economic stability, and public morale. A sizeable portion of the United States witnessed the effects of these dependencies immediately after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Unofficial reports from the Gulf Coast after both hurricanes clarified how the interruption or degradation of five critical infrastructure sectors significantly eroded the response capabilities of Emergency Services Sector departments and agencies. Examples of reported cross-sector dependencies and the consequences for emergency services follow:

• Public and private municipal water systems stopped working, leaving no water for firefighting, suppression systems, and potential decontamination operations.
• Communication nodes (for telecommunications, cellular, radio, and 9-1-1 call centers) failed, leaving first responders and citizens with no way to communicate.
• Roads, highways, and bridges flooded or washed away, making it impossible for emergency personnel to quickly and safely move throughout the impacted area.
• Wide-spread electrical power-outages shut down emergency systems, severely curtailing the critical services of medical physicians, medical technicians, and paramedics.
• Gasoline and diesel sources and supplies disappeared, eventually stopping the movement of most emergency vehicles.

Recognizing the dependency of the emergency services on the availability of other critical infrastructures (e.g., water, communications, transportation, electrical, and fuel), the EMR-ISAC recommends dedicated planning efforts for "worst-case scenarios." Citizens and response personnel will immensely benefit from senior leaders who plan and prepare for continuous operations with and without support from other critical infrastructures such as discussed above.

Loss-Estimating Tool Aids Decision-making

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Emergency Services Sector (ESS) leaders not already familiar with HAZUS-MH (Multi-Hazard) might consider its usefulness and applicability for their jurisdictions. HAZUS-MH is a nationally applicable standardized methodology and software program that contains models for estimating potential losses from hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. Loss estimates produced by HAZUS-MH are based on time-sensitive scientific and engineering knowledge of the effects of these natural disasters.

HAZUS-MH uses geographic information system (GIS) software to estimate losses from natural disasters. It enables users to analyze the type of damage that might occur in areas vulnerable to these threats, and potentially reduce their impacts through mitigation and emergency preparedness planning. Therefore, the EMR-ISAC understands that this tool may have advantages for the critical infrastructure protection efforts of emergency managers and responders.

Additionally, HAZUS-MH can perform multi-hazard analysis by providing access to the average annualized loss and probabilistic results from the hurricane wind, flood, and earthquake models and combining them to provide integrated multi-hazard reports and graphs. HAZUS-MH also contains a third-party model integration capability that provides access and operational capability to a wide range of natural, man-made, and technological hazard models (e.g., nuclear and conventional blast, radiological, chemical, and biological) that will supplement the natural hazard loss estimation capability.

Find brochures, presentations, and additional information about this tool at the HAZUS library: http://www.fema.gov/hazus/hz_library.shtm.

Reducing Firefighter Injuries Symposium

PERI, the Public Entity Risk Institute, that serves public, private, and nonprofit organizations by presenting risk management information, will offer a free virtual symposium, Fire Department Integrated Risk Analysis and Management, on line and via email, November 7-11, 2005. For more information about PERI, see the website at: http://riskinstitute.org.

Integrated risk management, as described by PERI, combines prevention, protection, and emergency response on a risk-assessed basis to improve the safety of the community and also to create a safer working environment for firefighters. It can determine future fire and rescue service strategies that focus on protecting people and property from fire and other emergencies in jurisdictions of all sizes. The EMR-ISAC suggests that the prevention and protection aspects of this symposium may offer information relevant to the critical infrastructure protection activities of first responders.

The program will be conducted via email and on PERI's website at no charge. Those who enroll ahead of the symposium date will have specially commissioned "Issues and Ideas Papers" emailed to them daily. The papers, written by subject matter experts (SMEs), are meant to both stimulate thinking and provide practical solutions. In addition to receiving the papers, enrollees can participate in the online discussions, post comments, and ask questions of authors and SMEs from the U.S. and United Kingdom.

To participate, complete the on-line enrollment form: http://marketing.riskinstitute.org/symposiumsignup.

Fire Prevention Week

This year, the Department of Homeland Security and United States Fire Administration are joining the National Fire Protection Association to promote National Fire Prevention Week, October 9-15, 2005. The official theme for this year is "Use Candles with Care."

The 2005 campaign urges everyone to follow fire safety tips in the use of candles, make sure smoke alarms are properly installed and maintained, develop and practice a home fire escape plan, and keep fires from starting by practicing fire-safe behaviors.

Many fire departments will conduct activities next week to encourage fire prevention in homes and businesses. Additionally, however, the EMR-ISAC advocates actions by first responder organizations to comprehensively examine their own personnel, physical assets, and communication/cyber systems to ensure adequate protection of these internal critical infrastructures from the ravages of structural fires, industrial fires, wildfires, etc.