NCJ Number
191336
Date Published
2000
Length
346 pages
Annotation
This book is meant to aid fire, rescue, and related agencies in their efforts to develop and maintain a viable terrorist/all-hazards emergency operations plan.
Abstract
A decline in terrorism is being reported in recent years, but many incidents are being linked to groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, skinheads, or animal rights activities. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the lead investigative agency for terrorist incidents in the United States. Examples of emergency responses to terrorist incidents in Northern Ireland, London and Tokyo are given. Common chemical agents include mustard gas, nerve agents, riot control agents, and blister agents. Terrorism has an objective, although it is often obscured by the fact that terrorist acts appear random and indiscriminate. The book describes how to develop terrorist planning and how all-hazards planning is used with a Comprehensive and Integrated Emergency Management System (CEM). CEM is a concept that recognizes that emergency-related activities occur in four separate by related phases: preparedness, recovery, response, and mitigation. The book offers guidance for preplanning for chemical and biological incidents, incident management, equipment needed, and an incident response plan. It looks at roles and responsibilities of various Federal responders, and provides outlines and effects in several scenarios. To turn potential disaster into survival, to avoid as many emergencies as possible, and to limit the adverse effect of an ongoing crisis, the media must be included in all phases of comprehensive policy analysis for emergencies. Proper planning for handling the stress of emergency service responders needs to be done, not only for large-scale incidents, but also those that may not make the national news. The book examines the Incident Command System and the interaction between field command and the function of the Emergency Operation Center and its staffing requirements. It is important to keep in mind the human dimension of every terrorism disaster. A community's plan must reflect what the area will do to protect itself and prepare itself for the attack with the resources it has or can obtain. It establishes no requirements, and its recommendations may be used, adapted or disregarded. Appendices. Bibliography, glossary, index