InfoGram 26-07: July 5, 2007

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.

Are Terrorists Testing the ESS?

Law enforcement authorities recently reported there have been an increasing number of false verbal bomb threats made by individuals and passengers of American transportation assets. An Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) inquiry into this disturbing matter revealed that terrorism analysts believe many of these threats may have been called in by terrorists during their planning cycle to test the response times of emergency responders. It is common knowledge that terrorists in Iraq have exploited responses to roadside bombings and ambushes to attack first responders by using secondary devices.

Considering the likelihood that terrorists are indeed testing the Emergency Services Sector (ESS), the EMR-ISAC recommends ESS departments and agencies conduct an after-action review (AAR) following each response to a major incident. Performing an AAR is an essential step in discovering vulnerabilities in response plans and, in particular, any weaknesses in the organization's critical infrastructures involved in most significant events. Subsequent to an AAR, a department or agency should implement changes in its plans as necessary to ensure vulnerabilities are not used by terrorists to enhance their purpose of death and destruction.

Exercises are good training tools to evaluate response plans. However, full-scale exercises occur infrequently because they are expensive and time consuming. Therefore, the EMR-ISAC suggests ESS organizations capitalize on information and experience acquired from responses to bogus incidents or threats. Responses to false verbal bomb threats, for example, provide excellent opportunities to reexamine a department's ability to respond and effectively mitigate a disaster without being victimized.

NFA Online Training System

The U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA) National Fire Academy (NFA) has launched "NFAOnline," a new Internet training system intended as a one-stop website where members of the Emergency Services Sector (ESS) can access free training and education programs.

"Now is the time for us to embrace the future and improve our education through distance learning," said NFA Superintendent, Dr. Denis Onieal. "NFAOnline provides another option to help further the professionalism of the nation's fire and emergency services and strengthen their ability to combat all-hazards emergencies."

NFAOnline offers technical support and the ability for users to immediately print a certificate and transcript. The USFA's goal in creating NFAOnline was to make training and materials available for all emergency responders, especially those unable to attend resident courses at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

There are currently eight courses available at NFAOnline (/nfa/nfaonline). Additional courses now under development will be added in coming weeks. Course subjects include Community Safety Educators, Fire Service Supervision, ICS 100 and ICS 200, Emergency Response to Terrorism, and Emergency Medical Services.

The Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) reminds ESS personnel of the additional NFAOnline benefit to take and finish courses at their own pace and convenience.

Introduction to Hydrogen Safety

For decades, hydrogen has been used in U.S. industries, such as petroleum refining and manufacturing, welding, glass purification, and in fertilizers. The country produces more than nine million tons of hydrogen each year. Consequently, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently developed an online, awareness-level overview course on hydrogen safety for the Emergency Services Sector (ESS).

The Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) viewed this new multimedia course generated specifically to help responders understand the properties of hydrogen, how it compares to other fuels, and the safety mechanisms of hydrogen systems.

The course is divided into seven topics: basics of hydrogen, transport and storage, hydrogen vehicles, dispensing, stationary facilities, codes and standards, and emergency response. The course goals include recognizing and identifying vehicles, stationary power generators, storage containers, and refueling equipment, as well as identifying typical ignition sources and other potential hazards, and executing initial "awareness-level" response actions.

As another no-cost resource for protecting the personnel component of ESS critical infrastructure, the course, "Introduction to Hydrogen Safety for First Responders," is available after a brief registration at: http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/firstresponders.html.

Also offered is a hydrogen safety bibliographic database of references to reports, articles, books, and other resources for information on hydrogen safety as it relates to production, storage, distribution, and use. (http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/biblio_database.html)

Oxygen-Generating Devices a Hazard

After-action accounts regarding the October 2006 explosions and fire at a toxic waste transfer station in North Carolina that injured 13 members of the Emergency Services Sector (ESS), indicate that the presence of oxygen-generating devices increased the threat to responders.

The Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) examined numerous post-incident reviews, noting particularly the findings of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB). The Board, concluding that aircraft oxygen generators most likely contributed to the rapid spread of the fire, issued a Safety Advisory on the dangers of the devices, similar to those that ignited and brought down a jetliner in 1996.

According to the Safety Advisory, aircraft maintenance personnel removed unspent (but past their shelf life) oxygen generators from aircraft. After a series of shipping and labeling mishaps, the devices ultimately arrived at the North Carolina facility repackaged in a fiberboard box. There, the incorrectly identified box was stored in the area where the facility's initial small fire was observed by responders. It is believed that the aircraft devices first ignited chlorine-based swimming-pool chemicals, then 55-gallon drums of hazardous waste. The CSB lead investigator for the incident said that if the generators had not been present, or had been handled properly, the fire would have died quickly or burned slowly. Instead, fireballs were sent hundreds of feet into the air, the facility was destroyed, nearly 17,000 citizens were temporarily evacuated, and the risk to ESS personnel increased significantly.

In its Safety Advisory, the Board notes the unfortunate lack of information available to responders about the facility and its contents, as well as the lack of automatic fire detection and suppression systems, and firewalls. The CSB also issued an Urgent Recommendation-the third in its history-about the "imminent hazard" associated with the labeling and shipping of the oxygen generators.

The Chemical Safety Board compiled resources for the ESS that include its Safety Advisory and Urgent Recommendation, a National Transportation Safety Board ValuJet investigation fire test video involving unspent chemical oxygen generators, and photographs of the incident scene that display unspent generators. Given the hundreds of hazardous waste facilities across the country, and the ongoing shipment of oxygen generators, the EMR-ISAC believes the resources at the following link can provide personnel protection information useful for the emergency services: ftp://ftp.csb.gov/EQ62707 .