Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
A strong and ongoing public education program for terrorism response, built upon
outreach and awareness programs for other types of emergencies, can enhance the
response organization's credibility and benefit both members of the public and first
responder efforts in the event of a terrorist attack.
Protective Actions
Evacuation may be required from inside the perimeter of the scene to guard against
further casualties from contamination by primary release of a WMD agent, the
possible release of additional WMDs, secondary devices, or additional attacks tar-
geting emergency responders.
Temporary in-place sheltering may be appropriate if there is a short-duration
release of hazardous materials or if it is determined to be safer for individuals to
remain in place. Protection from biological threats may involve coercive or noncoer-
cive protective actions, including isolation of individuals who pose an infection haz-
ard, quarantine of affected locations, vaccinations, use of masks by the public, closing
of public transportation, limiting public gatherings, and limiting intercity travel.
As with any emergency, state and local officials are primarily responsible for
making protective action decisions affecting the public. Protocols should be estab-
lished to ensure that important decisions are made by persons with the proper
decision-making authority. The terrorism annex should include provisions for coor-
dinating protective actions with other affected jurisdictions. Planning should also
address ways of countering irrational public behavior that can hinder protective
actions.
However, planning for evacuation should be flexible to account for difficult
situations. After the attack on the Pentagon, federal buildings in Washington, DC,
were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Evacuation was hampered by roads
in the federal area being under the jurisdiction of several federal agencies and the
roads in the rest of the District being under the authority of the District govern-
ment. On the other hand, the Pentagon is located in Arlington County, Virginia,
near a route persons from Washington, DC, were using to evacuate. Therefore,
there was a situation where some evacuation was toward the incident site rather
than away from it. Because of heavy traffic in the vicinity of the Pentagon, fire
vehicles had difficulty reaching the incident site.
Mass Care
The location of mass care facilities will be based partly on the hazardous agent.
Decontamination, if necessary, may need to precede sheltering and other needs
of the victims to prevent further damage from the hazardous agent to either the
victims themselves or the care providers.
