InfoGram 34-07: August 30, 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.

Credible Threats or Hoaxes

In its ongoing effort to understand and analyze events potentially affecting the critical infrastructure protection of communities and their emergency services, the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) verified the increase of bomb threats throughout the United States during the past several weeks. For example, more individuals received unsolicited and unmarked packages bearing no postage, eight universities received anonymous email threats, and numerous banks and businesses were the target of bomb threat scams. All of these incidents required a response and investigation by Emergency Services Sector (ESS) departments and agencies.

Although these threats may be just hoaxes, ESS personnel must treat each event as a bona fide threat. To protect internal critical infrastructure (i.e., people, physical assets, and communication/cyber systems), emergency responders and citizens should remain vigilant for suspicious envelopes, packages, containers, briefcases, etc. When coming in contact with a suspicious item, the EMR-ISAC encourages implementation of the 3-R's (i.e., recognize, report, and retreat) with other precautionary measures found in local standard operating procedures or guidelines.

Additionally, ESS organizations should consider the possibility that the threats to which they are responding may actually be tests of security. Counterterrorism specialists suggest that many of these threats might be from terrorists who are observing response times, personnel, equipment, routes, and procedures while looking for vulnerabilities. Because these matters cannot be protected from adversary surveillance and collection, ESS departments and agencies should identify and understand their vulnerabilities during response operations, and pursue aggressive methods to eliminate them.

Climatic Change Realities

Since nearly a year ago, localities within the United States have experienced increased extremes in weather. Record snowfall, unrelenting rain, devastating floods, widespread drought, supercharged winds, countless tornadoes, destructive wildfires, severe cold, and oppressive heat have beleaguered various parts of the nation. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), this unusually hazardous weather is sufficient evidence of our changing American climate reality.

The Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) postulates that these innumerable perilous weather events may provide reliable indicators regarding how climate change will impact our future. Treacherous weather does not only endanger lives; it also threatens people's livelihoods, businesses, homes, and local financial solvency. It seems plausible, therefore, that regional economies and the critical infrastructures upon which they are based may be tremendously affected by the ongoing climatic change.

Jim O'Brien, professor emeritus of meteorology at Florida State University, said emergency managers and policymakers should address the climatic change realities by enforcing stricter building codes, prohibiting new construction in susceptible areas such as coastal shores and flood plains, readdressing evacuation strategies, educating people about the potential effects of dangerous weather in their respective municipalities, and more.

The EMR-ISAC also encourages assessing regional climatic change with deliberate consideration to critical infrastructure protection. Municipal and regional decision makers (including those of the Emergency Services Sector) should address issues dealing with communications, electric grid, water supply, wastewater and floodplain management, oil and gas, levee and bridge status, agriculture, emergency response, etc. Considering the excesses in weather during the past ten months, the EMR-ISAC concludes that the veracity of climatic change may warrant the same amount of attention and preparation given to possible man-made disasters.

Rail Safety Training Tour

While researching no-cost hazardous material training opportunities, the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) learned that the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and Dow Chemical Company (Dow) launched this week the 2007-2008 training tour for the Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response (TRANSCAER) Program. The TRANSCAER Program offers emergency preparedness training to Emergency Services Sector (ESS) personnel, which focuses on the safe and secure transportation of chemical materials.

TRANSCAER was established in 1986 by a consortium of companies from the rail and chemical industries led by UP and Dow. It is a voluntary education and training outreach effort relying on representatives from the chemical, transportation, and distribution industries, as well as the ESS and federal government.

In addition to assisting with training and testing for emergency preparedness, the TRANSCAER staff help emergency planners and operators to identify hazardous materials moving through their communities. Program personnel also guide local officials in developing and evaluating the community emergency response plan. Tabletop, small, and large exercises in PowerPoint� format are available at the TRANSCAER website for use by any responder organization.

Information about the ongoing TRANSCAER Training Tour, including schedule and training details, can be found at http://www.dow.com/transcaertours. To initiate assistance for a specific state, contact a state or regional TRANSCAER coordinator at http://www.transcaer.org/public/regional.cfm. Search all training events at http://www.transcaer.org//public/events.cfm. TRANSCAER also offers a free electronic quarterly newsletter on training and upcoming events (http://www.transcaer.org/public/newsletters.cfm). Because thousands of pounds of hazardous material are transported daily throughout the nation, the EMR-ISAC encourages ESS organizations to take advantage of the program's free resources and assistance to enhance local response-ability.

NIMS Intrastate Mutual Aid Instruction

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Emergency Management Institute (EMI), recently added an online independent study course to introduce the topic of National Incident Management System (NIMS) intrastate mutual aid and assistance to Emergency Services Sector (ESS) organizations.

NIMS emphasizes the use of mutual aid and assistance, a practice the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) describes as a critical infrastructure protection (CIP) multiplier. Mutual aid bolsters the personnel and physical resources of the participating agencies and fosters collaboration and communication among the stakeholders.

The course, IS-706 NIMS Intrastate Mutual Aid - An Introduction, targets state, local, and tribal emergency response and coordination personnel. It describes the purpose, benefits, and uses of mutual aid and assistance, and explains how mutual aid and assistance agreements relate to NIMS. IS-706 further identifies information that should be included in a mutual aid and assistance agreement, the process for developing the agreement, and the elements of a mutual aid and assistance operational plan. The EMR-ISAC reminds ESS departments and agencies that adoption of NIMS is a requirement for receiving federal grant monies.

Emergency response personnel who complete the two-and-a-half-hour course earn 0.2 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The prerequisite for this course is IS-700: National Incident Management Systems (NIMS), An Introduction. To log onto the IS-706 course, visit http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS706.asp.