[GA ARES] Tabletop Drill

[Paul Pescitelli]

Have You Thought Like a Terrorist Lately?

By Donald Walsh, Ph.D., NREMT-P

At the National Fire Academy recently, I painted a scenario of a
terrorist with less than $100 devising a plot to cause mass casualties
using the simplest means. Using materials purchased at local stores,
our fictional terrorist took two pipe bombs, strapped them to two
propane tanks, placed them in a fully loaded, stolen gasoline tanker
truck and drove it into a football stadium where more than 15,000
people were watching a game.

Would you be ready for such an incident in your community? Could you
handle the fire suppression? What about the hazmat issues? How about
the massive burn and trauma victims you'd need to treat and transport?
Or the secondary device probabilities?

Since Sept. 11, 2001, I've seen many first responder agencies focusing
on readiness for major terrorist acts. Fire departments, EMS agencies
and police departments are purchasing everything from cyanide antidote
kits to SCBAs. New SOPs and programs are being established to face any
potential acts of terrorism in our communities. But are we acting
prudently? Are we ready for the backpack bombers? Are we ready for the
domestic, small-time terrorist? Are we assessing the potential threats
facing our communities appropriately?

When seeking to address the myriad first responder readiness issues, I
believe we must think like terrorists to plan appropriately. Have you
and your colleagues stepped into the shoes of a terrorist? If not, you
don't know what you're missing. Create an easy and enlightening drill
at your next educational or staff (radio club ) meeting by posing the
following challenge to your peers:

"Here's $50. Identify an event in our community scheduled in the
coming weeks and determine the simplest way to cause the most injuries
and destruction using only local resources and materials. Think like a
terrorist. Be creative."

The results will astonish you. Next, have the same group respond to
the incident and manage the events using incident command and only
those resources currently at your disposal. Assess the outcome in a
tabletop drill format and evaluate your actions. Are you ready and
prepared for such an event?

We also need to take our experience with the injury and fire
prevention programs we have participated in over the years and apply
similar concepts to terrorism prevention. First response agencies need
to provide community education. We need to teach people what to look
for and how to respond to and report suspicious events or people to
the appropriate authorities. The rules have changed since Sept. 11,
and we must all update our response systems and agency programs in
innovative ways to meet the challenges of today's major incident
readiness.

This article was adapted from a report in the April-June 2003 issue of
Homeland First Response.

About the Author
Dr. Donald W. Walsh is an assistant deputy chief with the Chicago Fire
Department's Bureau of EMS. His 27-year EMS career has earned him
international, national and local awards. Walsh is also president and
CEO of International Emergency Medicine Disaster Specialists, a
disaster and public-safety consultant group responsible for the
development of disaster planning and educational programs. His most
current project developed the Turkish Hospital Emergency Incident
Command System and Disaster Plan. The project was completed with all
volunteer and humanitarian participation.

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73 - Paul    K4UJ / FS, KP2, KP4, PJ6, PJ7,VP2E, ZF2UJ
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