United States Fire Administration Critical Infrastructure Protection - March 18, 2004
The horrific attack one week ago on train commuters in the Spanish capital has again focused attention on the expansive, accessible rail and subway systems throughout the United States. Many doors, high volumes of passengers, occasional hazardous cargo, and thousands of miles of unattended tracks are located within and beneath cities and suburbs containing large concentrations of people and critical infrastructures. There is no doubt that this reality makes the American railway system a lucrative target for terrorists. This is why the Department of Homeland Security sent a bulletin on 12 March to state and local officials across the nation advising them to consider protective measures for railroads and mass transit systems.
Whether deliberately instigated or accidental, it is conceivable that there will be a future railroad or subway incident involving large numbers of passengers and/or dangerous materials in the immediate vicinity of local critical infrastructures. Whenever this happens, the response operations of emergency departments will greatly depend on their preparedness for such events. The survivability of passengers, the protection of local critical infrastructures, and the safety and success of first responders will depend upon those who know exactly what to do and thoroughly cooperate in getting it done. As always, well-coordinated and combined planning and training can make a significance difference in the outcome of response operations.
To acquire consistently favorable results, the EMR-ISAC recommends that community leaders (e.g., elected leaders, emergency managers, and chief officers of first response departments) with railroads and subways within or adjacent to their jurisdiction commence comprehensive, multi-agency planning and exercising to ensure preparedness for rail systems emergencies. Innovative, low cost methods can be selected to yield quality joint training with reinforcing rehearsals. The readiness derived from these activities should appreciably reduce the threat to community critical infrastructures as well as those of the fire, EMS, and police departments.
More about Force Protection and CIP
The 19 February INFOGRAM entry on force protection discussed the necessity for firefighters and emergency medical personnel to avoid getting caught up in an emergency and feel the need to rush in without first checking for several indicators of danger at a scene. In view of recent events in this country where firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics have been injured or killed, this article intends to provide more information about protecting department personnel
