InfoGram 4-09: January 29, 2009

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.

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Leveraging Resources through Partnership

The movement toward public/private partnership has been necessarily reenergized by the current economic downturn.  With the majority of American critical infrastructures being owned, operated, and protected by the private sector, the nation’s emergency managers and their local emergency services departments and agencies recognize that only a strong and unyielding commitment to partnership will facilitate operationally effective responses during this period of rapidly shrinking resources. 

The president and chief executive officer of the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council, Marc Pearl, wrote that public/private relationships must include “mutuality, trust, communication, and a solid commitment from leadership” to be successful.  Additionally, the Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) observed that cooperative and collaborative working relationships, which leverage both public and private sector resources, can support efficient preparedness, mitigation, and response on local levels. 

Recently, the National Infrastructure Advisory Council reviewed the status of public/private partnerships and affirmed the following:

Regulation cannot achieve the same level of infrastructure protection as quality partnerships.

Continued leadership commitment and engagement from senior officials of the public and private sectors are essential.

Sustaining achieved partnership successes requires policy continuity and government commitment.

In his article seen in the January 2009 HSToday Magazine, Marc Pearl stated: “While our nation’s economic crisis will force us all to approach our new period of ‘thrift’ with even more creativity, we need more collaboration and cooperation than ever to assure that our nation’s critical physical and cyber assets are protected.”  His article, “The Transition and Homeland Security,” can be seen on page 7.   

Center for Domestic Preparedness Update

The Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) trains emergency response providers from state, local, and tribal governments, as well as the federal government, foreign governments, and private entities when appropriate.  Located in Anniston, Alabama, the CDP offers 39 courses that address everything from radiation contamination and “all-hazards” incident management to pandemic influenza and healthcare leadership.  The CDP is a vital component of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Preparedness Directorate and is the nation’s only congressionally chartered federal training facility for civilian emergency responders regarding live chemical nerve agents, which are also known as chemical weapons of mass destruction.

“The CDP offers emergency responders a unique experience to receive hands-on training to respond to hazardous incidents whether accidental or intentional,” said Denis Campeau, Associate Director of Training and Education.  “Most training environments are in lecture or book form, but we take it a step further and put the emergency responder in an environment that builds confidence and their ability to perform.”  The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) verified that training for state and local responders is fully funded by FEMA.  Round trip air and ground transportation, lodging, and meals are provided at no cost to responders, their agency, or jurisdiction.

CDP courses range from one to four days in length and provide interdisciplinary resident and non-resident training that promotes greater understanding among 10 diverse responder disciplines: Emergency Management, Fire Service, Emergency Medical Services, Law Enforcement, Public Safety Communications, Hazardous Materials, Healthcare, Public Health, Governmental Administrative, and Public Works.

While most of the training takes place at the Alabama facility, CDP also offers Mobile Training Teams (MTTs) that deliver advanced, hands-on training to multidisciplinary audiences.  In coordination with their State Administrative Agency, the host jurisdiction provides the venue and the responder students.  The MTTs provide everything else needed to train.  There are approximately 50 MTTs spread throughout the nation, featuring courses that are one to three days in length.

“No other federal training agency offers what the CDP does,” said Mr. Campeau.  “Responders serve as the nation’s first line of defense and deserve the highest quality training available.  The instructors are some of the best in the nation and come from a variety of emergency response backgrounds.”

To learn more about the CDP, the EMR-ISAC suggests a visit to the CDP Website or call 866-213-9553.

NIOSH Personnel Safety Alert

A National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) draft Alert examines a long-standing incident scene danger: deaths and injuries suffered by Emergency Services Sector (ESS) personnel working in or around unoccupied structures, or structures where no clear evidence indicates that people are trapped inside.  In 71 NIOSH investigations from 1998 to 2007, 54 incidents occurred at unoccupied structures and accounted for 75 percent of the 96 deaths, and 89 percent of the 106 injuries.

According to the Alert, interior (inside a structure) and offensive (aggressive) firefighting operations increase the risk of traumatic injury and death from structural collapse, burns, and asphyxiation.  It states, “Unoccupied structures, whether in current use, under construction, under renovation, or condemned, must be considered expendable in order to decrease the risk to firefighters.” 

The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center’s (EMR-ISAC) most recent article on this topic discussed an ESS organization’s proactive strategy change for responses to incidents at vacant and abandoned buildings, based on increases in personnel injuries.  It can be seen at the third article of the 28 February 2008 InfoGram.

To mitigate this threat to personnel, the foremost of internal critical infrastructures, the Alert presents 18 recommendations categorized for firefighters, departments, incident commanders, and incident safety officers.  Each is followed by one or more action steps to further clarify how ESS organizations can implement the recommendations.

Download the draft Alert, “Preventing Deaths and Injuries of Firefighters When Fighting Fires in Unoccupied Structures” (PDF, 16 pp. 171 Kb)
To provide feedback about the draft Alert by 5:00 p.m. EST, 9 March 2009, see the instructions at the NIOSH Website.

Response to Nuclear Detonation

The Homeland Security Council released planning guidance this month for what is considered one of the most catastrophic incidents that could occur in the U.S.: a nuclear detonation in an American city.  “Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation” (PDF, 97 pp. 869 Kb) was written for the Emergency Services Sector (ESS), elected officials, public works, transportation, health, and other metropolitan emergency planners.

The guide was created to provide nuclear detonation-specific response recommendations to maximize life preservation in an environment with a severely compromised infrastructure.  The information focuses on response activities for the 24- to 72-hour timeframe “when it is likely that many federal resources will still be en route to the incident.”  Organized in a “stepwise manner,” it uses terminology and concepts of the National Planning Scenario #1, and the National Response Framework.  It offers general background information that lays a foundation for specific planning recommendations that are, the guide states, “based on what is currently known about the consequences of a nuclear detonation in an urban environment.” 

Specific chapters of the guide examine a zoned approach to nuclear detonation response, shelter/evacuation, early medical care, population monitoring and decontamination, and detonation effects and impacts in an urban environment. 

To further assist responders, the Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) located “Resources for Nuclear and Radiation Disaster Response,” (PDF, 143 Kb) a 6-page article that delineates the deployment and functions of organizations that can respond to radiation crises such as federal and state government agencies and the military, including the National Guard’s Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Teams.  Additional Homeland Security Committee documents are available at the Website of the Health Physics Society.