LARRY CELONA
Courtesy New York Post

NEW YORK --- Fire and police brass are on alert for a new and especially insidious threat - terrorists bearing bombs in replica cop cars, ambulances or firetrucks.

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Fears of such a tactic were fueled this month when two unidentified Middle Eastern men tried to purchase a replica ambulance from a company in north Jersey, law-enforcement sources told The Post.

The two men tried to pay in cash, then fled when company employees began grilling them on their motives, the sources said.

The employees alerted their local cops, who passed word along to New York's state Office of Public Security - which, in turn, alerted NYPD and FDNY officials, the sources said.

"There's concern that official vehicles, meaning ambulances, police cars or a firetruck, could be used to deliver some kind of bomb," said one source.

Feared most are these two scenarios:

• A lookalike ambulance or other official vehicle is loaded with explosives, and passes easily into the sensitive areas surrounding a hospital, a power plant or a government or justice complex - particularly during an existing emergency.
• A terrorist disguised in an official cop, fire or EMT uniform uses the lookalike vehicle to gain access to a sensitive building, or for some other nefarious purpose, including the theft of radioactive materials from a hospital, the planting of an explosive, or an other act of sabotage, the sources said.

WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press Writer

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- An attempt by two Middle Eastern men to buy a fake ambulance spurred authorities to issue warnings that terrorists may seek to use bogus emergency vehicles as weapons, authorities said.

About two weeks ago, two men walked into Movie Time Cars Inc., a Lyndhurst company that rents replicas of ambulances and police cars to TV and film producers. The men offered to pay cash to buy a replica ambulance, said Joe Sargo, the company's owner.

``They said they had cash and wanted to buy an ambulance,'' he said. ``I was suspicious because most of my clients don't walk in and offer cash to buy ambulances. I told them we couldn't do that, and they left.''

An employee jotted down the license plate number of the delivery truck they were driving and called police, Sargo said.

Sandra Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Newark FBI office, said the FBI does not believe the incident was linked to any terrorist activity.

Nonetheless, Carroll said, the information about the incident from Lyndhurst police ``was combined with some intelligence that ambulances or police cars may be a target.'' She declined to elaborate.

Alerts were sent to Bergen County, N.J., and New York City police and rescue agencies to be on the lookout for anyone trying to obtain an emergency vehicle or look-alike.

The FBI knows who owns the truck, Carroll said, but has not yet determined the identities of the two men. The men, whom Carroll described as Middle Eastern, are being sought for questioning, she said.

Movie Time does not have actual ambulances or police cars, but the replicas are authentic enough that they can pass for the real thing, Sargo said.

Source: National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians

Clinton, MS -- The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians has issued a Security Alert to EMT's, Paramedics and EMS Administrators to conduct a review of existing security measures for EMS vehicles and uniform articles. Based upon several reports that have been received in the last three weeks, the NAEMT has deemed it necessary to elevate member attention to this threat.

"EMS personnel and organizations enjoy a very high level of public trust. The opportunity for someone to exploit that trust by portraying themselves as EMS personnel by unauthorized use of vehicles or uniforms must be diminished to the lowest possible levels. EMS must take every reasonable step to ensure that we protect the public and our members through the effective employment of accountability measures for our vehicles and uniforms," said NAEMT President Nathan R. Williams.

NAEMT Past President and Terrorism Task Force chairman Paul M. Maniscalco stated "While the initial reports received involved various inquiries about EMS operations and organizations via Internet email, we now have a event act where individuals acting suspiciously went to a Northern New Jersey shop that manufactures replica vehicles and offered to pay a cash for an EMS vehicle. EMS operational security is tantamount to keeping members safe and preserving the capacity to safely and effectively respond to emergency calls."

The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians has also created a reference document to aid members and EMS organizations with the task of assessing vulnerability and the corrective measures needed. President Williams stated: "NAEMT established a Terrorism Task Force in 1990 to address these issues because we recognized the emerging threat that these events posed to our members and the communities that they serve. We will continue to inform our members of the changing threat landscape and measures needed to protect the individual and organization. NAEMT will be providing a full threat and response brief to the membership at our annual national meeting in October."

NAEMT Recommended Operational Security Measures:

EMS organizations should consider adopting the following initial steps for their operational security assessment:

EMT's and Paramedics:

• Members should be provided with a security briefing regarding present or emerging threats to their safety or the integrity of the EMS mission. The briefings can take many forms such as meetings, information sheets or supervisory briefings conducted at the commencement of a tour of duty.
• Members should be provided the opportunity by their respective EMS organizations to develop a greater sense of operational security and situational awareness. While the threats EMS faces are not new, they continually change requiring greater acuity and understanding.

Vehicles:

• Accountability of all vehicles-marked and unmarked-this includes tracking vehicles that are in-service, off service - reserve status, off-service--repair status and those that are going for salvage.
• EMS vehicles when unattended should NOT be left running or the keys left in the ignition.
• Tracking of vehicle access must include:
  • Insure that off service vehicles at EMS stations are secured in such a manner that significantly increases the difficulty of unauthorized access and use. Routine and random vehicle audits are encouraged.
  • Routine and random of vehicle and station key access logs. Inventory of keys should be conducted to account for all keys. Take requisite security corrective measures should keys be discovered unaccounted for.
  • Insure that EMS vehicles that are off premise for service are accounted for especially when not in direct possession of the EMS organizations. This includes, in addition to government based repair facilities, contracted vendor services that require the vehicle to be shipped off site such as radio repair firms, mechanical and bio-medical repair and warranty service. EMS organizations are strongly encouraged to discuss security measures with repair facilities and vendors to confirm that they understand the requirements to secure the vehicle and your compliance expectations. Such requirements might be:
    • Securing the vehicle in doors overnight when facility is closed.
    • Not leaving the keys in the vehicle.
    • Not allowing the vehicle to be taken off vendor premise for any reason other then directly related to the repair and return of the unit to the owning organization.
    • Reporting to the EMS organization and Law Enforcement officials any unusual interest in the vehicle while in their possession.
• Decommissioned vehicles slated for resale, but not to another bona fide emergency response organization, or vehicles scheduled for salvage, should be stripped of agency identifying markings by complete removal or destruction by grinding. Uninstalling of emergency warning devices and other EMS markings is strongly encouraged.

Uniforms and Identification Articles:

• Safeguard agency patches and ID cards to insure defense against unauthorized access.
• Adoption of counterfeit resistant identification credentials that incorporate a photo of the authorized member.
• Alert uniform store vendors of the need to establish and verify the identity of an individual seeking to purchase your uniform articles. This should be accomplished by verifying agency Identification Credentials. More comprehensive processes such as a contact number with your agency to verify identity against the database of authorized active members should be considered.