Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
8 EMS Preparation for Terrorist
Events
MICHAEL ZACHERA, III
8.1 Introduction
Terrorist events can happen anywhere. Commonly,
the high value targets that everyone thinks of are in
the large cities: Office buildings in New York City,
bridges in San Francisco, government offices in
Washington, DC are all examples of the “classic”
urban terrorist target. But we cannot forget that
there are plenty of targets of opportunity in rural
America. Nuclear power plants, airports, shopping
malls, prisons, and drinking water reservoirs are
examples.
Preparing for a terrorist event is everyone's
responsibility from the medical control physi-
cian to the service chief, to the individual crew
members. Areas of focus may change but we all
share the overall responsibility of planning for
terrorism.
make changes to the plan from those identified
weaknesses.
An excellent acronym to remember when it
comes to disaster/terrorist events is the “6 Ps”
(Proper Pre-Planning Prevents Poor Performance).
The more we plan, practice and make changes to
the plan, the greater the likelihood that should a
terrorist event happen we will be able to organized
a smooth operation.
8.3 Urban vs. Rural Preparation
Many of us traditionally think of terrorist attacks
in an urban environment; Tokyo, New York City,
Baghdad, London, Belfast and Madrid are all cities
that have had high profile terrorist events. But these
events have also happened in Shanksville, PA and
in Beslan, Russia; rural America is just as likely to
be attacked as urban America.
Differences in preparation should be in scale
and not content. Certainly New York City, with
a population of 7 million will need to have more
supplies, larger shelters and more locations that
will need pre-planning. The Town of Chaplin,
CT with a population of 2000 will need far
fewer supplies, smaller shelters, and fewer pre-
planned locations. Both areas should be planning
for biological, chemical, nuclear, radiological, and
explosive terrorist events (Table 8.1). Again, our
differences are in scale, not content.
A sense of safety and complacency can come
over the rural provider. As such it is that much
more important for rural areas to plan ahead.
Consider where we locate our nuclear power
plants. Many are near large urban areas, but are
8.2 Preparation
The fire service has an excellent concept that EMS
can adapt for preparation of terrorist events. It is
the process of pre-planning.
A fire department will look at a building/location
and plan on how to fight a fire or perform a
rescue that may occur there, prior to any emer-
gency happening. The process of pre-planning
includes such things as the position of units, the
location of the water supply and the presence of
hazardous materials and any other hazards that
may be present. The need for specialized resources
is also identified in this process. After planning
is completed, the fire service will then practice
the plan to identify weaknesses and go back and
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