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.
Recent news coverage of global public exposure to Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB) prompted the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) to offer some information about this matter for the Emergency Services Sector (ESS).
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease transmitted through the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, speaks, or breathes. The expelled droplets, containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis, can cause TB infection if inhaled by anyone who shares air with the infected person. Symptoms of possible TB include a productive cough that persists for three weeks or more, fever, weight loss, night sweats, or chest pains. With medical evaluation and appropriate medication, TB can be cured. However, XDR-TB is a rare form that is resistant to almost all drugs used to treat TB.
High-risk groups in the United States include immigrants from areas of the world where TB is common. Other high-risk factors include exposure to infectious TB, homelessness, illicit drug use, weakened immune systems, being elderly, and HIV positive status.
The EMR-ISAC is aware that transporting known or suspected TB patients exposes emergency responders to a potential health risk. To help mitigate the risk, the EMR-ISAC urges ESS members to review and circulate the "TB Patient Transportation Checklist" (PDF, 463 Kb) available at the Francis J. Curry National Tuberculosis Center. Additional education and training resources are available at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: http://www.cdc.gov/tb.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Training and Education Division funds a program to provide no-cost assistance to the Emergency Services Sector (ESS) and communities nationwide for enhancing Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) and joint critical incident management through public-private partnerships.
Developed and administered by the Michigan State University (MSU) School of Criminal Justice, the Critical Incident Protocol-Community Facilitation Program consists of two to four on-site community sessions conducted over a period of six to nine months. The program addresses building public/private- sector partnerships, using an all-hazards critical incident approach, identifying risks and threats to the partnership and community, using a risk-assessment process, and developing partnership and community resources. Afterwards, the newly formed partnership participates in a tabletop exercise led by MSU staff. Throughout the partnership development process and afterwards, MSU staff continue to support, communicate, and collaborate with partnership members. The program is already in place in 31 communities representing 20 states.
ESS leaders must protect their own internal critical infrastructures as well as those of their communities despite limited time and constrained budgets. Since the private sector owns the majority of the nation's critical infrastructure, collaboration among all community stakeholders will potentially pool essential expertise, capabilities, resources, and commitment for emergency protection, prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery.
The Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) suggests the ESS take the lead in encouraging their communities to use the no-cost Critical Incident Protocol-Community Facilitation Program to create community-wide sustainable and resilient public-private partnerships for critical infrastructure protection enhancement. Interested sector leaders can download Critical Incident Protocol - a Public and Private Partnership at http://www.cip.msu.edu/cip.pdf (PDF, 260 Kb). This 42-page guide addresses mutual benefits of joint planning, leadership, critical incident planning, including the Incident Command System, exercising the plan, business resumption, media relations, etc. For further information, the program director, Brit Weber, can be reached by telephone (517) 355-2227, or email: weberbr@msu.edu.
Emergency Services Sector (ESS) activities typically include ruptured gas lines and hazmat spills (e.g., fuel) occurring during transport. Research by the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) confirmed that these incidents frequently result because "even the best of systems are run by people, and people make mistakes."
A review of numerous reports revealed that one nuclear facility experienced a dozen incidents last year that "could have led to a significant event or challenged safety systems." These documents further explained the vulnerabilities of another facility because when its cooling pools were built, "…the idea of an airplane, like we experienced in 2001, was probably not thought of," according to a representative of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The EMR-ISAC considered the possible threat to, and impact on, the critical infrastructures of the emergency services, while examining information specifically regarding nuclear facility events. The following suggestions emerged during the review, which are relevant to ESS departments and agencies:
Nuclear-specific information and resources for emergency responder organizations can be found at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Emergency Preparedness and Response Program (http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/emerg-preparedness.html). The website offers a 2007 emergency exercise schedule. Another source is the U.S. Department of Energy's Fire Protection Program, which has free, downloadable, unrestricted training materials, including DOE/International Association of Fire Fighters Training for Radiation Emergencies, and the Hanford Fire Department Radiation Fundamentals for Emergency Responders (http://www.hss.energy.gov/NuclearSafety/NSEA/fire/training.html).
The Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) explored the first product released by the Dartmouth College Interactive Media Laboratory's Virtual Terrorism Response Academy. The course, "Ops-Plus for WMD Hazmat," was funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enhance personnel protection and survival awareness for the Emergency Services Sector (ESS).
According to producers at the media lab's Program on Counterterrorism Preparedness and Training, the 16-hour course features multiple video-game-style simulations of terrorism-response scenarios. Participants begin in a simulated hazmat learning lab, and then proceed to fully interactive, simulated attacks using weapons of mass destruction (WMD). During the training, participants use accurately modeled instruments, answer WMD-related questions, and make increasingly challenging tactical decisions related to personal protective equipment, risk management, use of instruments, etc. In a subsequent debriefing, trainers explain the impact of participants' decisions during the simulations.
An introductory level is provided to assist users who lack video game experience. The course can be taken individually or in instructor-led groups as preparatory/refresher instruction or to complement live training. It is designed to run on older Windows-based computers and new models.
The course is eligible for purchase using federal training funds. To review a description in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Training and Education Division Course Catalog, visit page 164, item PER-282, at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/docs/TED_Course_Catalog2007.pdf (PDF, 868 KB). Individual copies can be ordered for $35.00 from the National Fire Protection Association Catalog. Bulk orders at reduced prices can be purchased directly from Dartmouth's Interactive Media Laboratory (http://iml.dartmouth.edu/vtra/contact).
The U.S. Fire Administration/EMR-ISAC does not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, and does not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
This INFOGRAM may contain copyrighted material that was not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. EMR-ISAC personnel believe this constitutes "fair use" of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material contained within this document for your own purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
DHS and the FBI encourage recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and/or the FBI. The DHS National Operation Center (NOC) can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9685 or by email at NOC.Fusion@dhs.gov.
The FBI regional phone numbers can be found online at www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm
For information affecting the private sector and critical infrastructure, contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC), a sub-element of the NOC. The NICC can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9201 or by email at NICC@dhs.gov.
When available, each report submitted should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact.
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