April 27, 2006 InfoGram

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.

Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center

In the past two months, the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) disseminated eight "For Official Use Only" (FOUO) documents prepared by the Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center (HITRAC). The HITRAC is a component of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the Office of Infrastructure Protection within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The EMR-ISAC forwarded each HITRAC product only to the subscribed leaders of the Emergency Services Sector who are validated to receive (FOUO) critical infrastructure protection information.

Anticipating the distribution of several future HITRAC products, and to expand the comprehension and appreciation of these documents, the HITRAC through EMR-ISAC offers the following information:

• The Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center (HITRAC) was established in January 2005 to consolidate specific threat information regarding the Nation's critical Infrastructures, and enable a seamless integration of intelligence and infrastructure protection specialists to better assess and reduce risks to the homeland's 17 critical infrastructures and key resources.
• HITRAC's vision is to strengthen its capability as the pre-eminent National center for the integration, analysis, and sharing of information regarding the risks of terrorist attacks to public and private sector critical infrastructures and key resources.
• HITRAC performs two primary missions. Tactically, it evaluates and monitors current threats to U.S. infrastructure, and supports DHS decision makers and external customers with immediate analysis as necessary. Strategically, it maintains situational awareness of infrastructure sectors, and develops long-term strategic assessments of their risks by integrating threat information with the unique vulnerabilities and consequences of each infrastructure sector.

Questions about HITRAC services to the Emergency Services Sector can be sent to the EMR-ISAC at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov or call 301-447-1325.

Local CIP Realities

During the past five years, the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) witnessed the increasing complexity of prevention, protection, and preparedness for all-hazard incidents. Man-made and natural disasters since 9/11 forever changed the landscape for local governments and their emergency responders. These events significantly altered the world of municipal emergency managers and chief officers of first responder departments. In particular, the urgency for critical infrastructure protection (CIP) is now understood and accepted by most ESS leaders throughout the country.

According to a speech by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff delivered earlier this month at the National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, "the local government is responsible to provide for the safety and security of citizens in advance of a hurricane." Secretary Chertoff clarified that "local governments are in charge of developing emergency plans, determining evacuation routes, providing public transportation for those who can't self-evacuate, and setting up and stocking local shelters with relief supplies."

The EMR-ISAC comprehends and agrees that "homeland security begins at home." Additionally, the ISAC appreciates that all the emphasis on local roles and responsibilities places great burden on scarce community resources. This local reality necessitates prevention and protection measures for only absolutely indispensable physical assets and communication/cyber systems (i.e., critical infrastructures). This is precisely what CIP is all about: protecting truly "critical" infrastructures. CIP activities conserve limited resources (i.e., time, money, personnel, and material) for use in other essential preparedness requirements, such as those referred to by Secretary Chertoff and seen in the preceding paragraph.

Responder Safety after Structural Collapse

The Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) learned that the RAND Corporation recently released the fourth and newest report of "Protecting Emergency Responders," its series of safety and health risk studies for the Emergency Services Sector (ESS). Requested by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the new publication proposes guidelines to better protect responders from the chemical, biological, and physical hazards that exist following the collapse of large buildings.

The goal of the guidelines is to reduce the extent of injuries like those suffered by ESS personnel at the World Trade Center on and after 9/11. While addressing the full duration of an emergency response, the guidelines emphasize protection during the first few hours after a collapse, when the full extent of hazards is highly uncertain. To prepare these guidelines, RAND researchers reviewed all potential hazards that could be present, all possible responder missions, and the full range of workers who likely would respond to the collapse of a tall building, including all ESS, construction, and utilities support personnel.

In addition to proposed guidelines that address how responders should assess hazards, select appropriate equipment, and manage safety, the study considers problems of logistical support and safety training. For example, it includes provisions for decontamination and for replacing personal protective equipment because search and rescue operations may extend over many days.

With the report's spotlight on safeguarding the most critical of the ESS infrastructure - personnel - the EMR-ISAC encourages responder organizations to visit http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG425.pdf, and download the document at no charge: Protecting Emergency Responders, Vol. 4: Personal Protective Equipment Guidelines for Structural Collapse Events.

Hybrid Vehicle Caution Update

In the second article of the 21 April 2005 InfoGram, the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) first addressed hybrid vehicle hazards for emergency responders: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/subjects/emr-isac/infograms/ig2005/igapr2105.shtm.

Since then, the EMR-ISAC obtained the following additional information and recommendations regarding hybrid vehicles, which warrant the attention of Emergency Services Sector (ESS) personnel nationwide:

• Remain a safe distance from the vehicle if it is on fire.
• Hybrids are powered by a combination of gasoline engines and high-voltage batteries, so the most important first step at an incident scene must be to verify that the vehicle is absolutely not under any power. Always assume the vehicle is powered up despite no engine noises.
• Because the cars are able to run without the gasoline motor, they can be in the "ready" position (running off electricity stored in the battery packs) with very little sound or vibration. Chock the wheels as soon as possible in case a car in the "sleep mode" has its gas pedal depressed inadvertently by a driver.
• Put vehicle in park, turn ignition off, depress power button, and remove key to disable the high-voltage system. Consider the electrical system unsafe for a full 5 minutes (called "drain time") after ignition shut-down.
• Depending on the type of collision, exterior hybrid labeling could be unrecognizably damaged or blocked by another vehicle. A reliable clue that a vehicle is a hybrid is its large battery pack, some of which weigh 80 or more pounds. Never touch, cut, or open any orange cable or components protected by orange sleeves.
• More hybrid vehicles are being mainstreamed to resemble traditional vehicles, making some models difficult to recognize. Ford Escape and Toyota Highlander hybrids, for example, have identical gas-powered counterparts, so checking for the "hybrid" label and looking for the orange cable sleeves under the hood, in the rear, or underneath the cars are important initial steps at vehicle incidents.

Auto Design and Extrication Forum, sponsored by State Farm Insurance, is a streaming webcast that covers response to incidents involving hybrid vehicles as well as safety pointers on such recent design features as roof airbags on 2005 and later model vehicles, and extensive coverage of airbags and restraint systems. It can be viewed at http://www.statefarm.com/sftv/sftv.htm.

Responder guidance for most domestic and foreign hybrids is available to download at http://www.extrication.com/ERG.htm, and each manufacturer of hybrids has responder-specific guidelines at its website.