Know the Smells and Warning Bells of WMD: In the article “Know the Smells and Warning Bells of WMD”, the author, John Linstrom’s principal point is that the fire departments should better prepare to respond to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Historically, explosive or WMD incidents were handled by law enforcement, while fire assumed a support role, but with increased terroristic occurrences, firefighters have been finding themselves in situations where they have been first on scene. Mr. Linstrom stresses that firefighters need to be mindful of the threat of explosives and WMD’s when responding to incidents (Linstrom, 2004). Firefighters need to familiarize themselves with terrorist tactics and beware of potential high-risk …show more content…
Linstrom’s arguments support his main point stressing firefighters must change their normal routine and think like terrorists to be in the right state of mind to combat potential attacks. One of the biggest threats that first responders face during an incident is potential collapses or the threat of secondary improvised explosive devices (Linstrom, 2004). In the event of an attack by WMD’s, firefighters and law enforcement will find themselves working side-by-side in the “hot zone”, which is the contaminated area, conducting rescues, triage, and decontamination of victims. To assist firefighters with remembering the contributing agents that are associated in a WMD event, the acronym B-NICE has been established. B-NICE stands for: biological, nuclear, incendiary, chemical, and explosives (Linstrom, 2004). As a result of their training, firefighters are already reasonably versed when it comes to dealing with explosives and incendiary devices, but lack the training and knowledge of dealing with WMD’s. Mr. Linstrom supports his main point with the evidence highlighting the fact that government buildings, historic monuments, churches, sporting events, transit stations, and malls are elevated targets of terrorist attacks due to their symbolism or the fact that they draw large crowds of people (Linstrom,
Six months after the assault, the National Office of Country Security presented another shading coded U.S. risk admonitory framework to adequately manage the dangers. The present danger level cautions, the air terminal's and Metro's consistent alarms for unattended and suspicious stuff and the shoe weighs in the air terminal regularly help individuals to remember the 9/11 assaults and the powerlessness of the country to further assaults. The Fringe security and Port and Load Security have been expanded. The expanded efforts to establish safety in outskirt and port security may have a little impact on Americans, however have more effect on migrants, guests, and business voyagers. Quickly after the assaults, everybody felt otherworldly, less materialistic, and understood that what truly matters is friends and family. This has endured to a degree, yet not for eternity. Be that as it may, an enduring change is that everybody is currently mindful of war, terrorism and life's
Inherently the fire service operates in high-risk environments to facilitate the role of preserving life safety and property conservation. How these incidents are managed and safeguarded by our administration
Terrorism has become popular among extremists who are employing different dynamic strategies to thrive in their agenda. Understanding the terror groups is fundamental principle to overcome them or counter the sects. Modern terrorism has additionally advanced. Today 's assaults are less incessant, however all the more savage. Terrorists beforehand acted like renegades trying to connect with the foe (Miller, 2013. This was trailed by a period of kidnappings and plane hijackings. States create first class counter-terrorist strengths, extraordinarily prepared at prisoner transaction and salvage. Like the youngster 's amusement - paper-scissors-stone the following phase of advancement was the appropriation of bombings as the favored strategy (Roberts, 2014). Bombs can be delivered from basic materials, put and exploded remotely, with generally okay to the planes and little open door for counter-terrorist strengths to catch them. Terror groups like the IRA, Al-Qaida, ISIS and Boko
On April 19, 1995, a terrorist set off a bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building. The explosion killed 168 people and injured 842 more. The bomb went off at 9:02 a.m., and it “destroying a third of the building and left a thirty-foot-wide crater” (Casey 2).
The 9/11 terror attacks is one of the historical and fatal events that changed the United States of America forever, especially in relation to terrorists and terrorism. While these concepts were on the minds of very few people in America's population before the attacks, the 9/11 incident made terrorism to become one of the major concerns for the whole nation. This is despite of the fact that they were carried out in New York City, Washington, and parts of Pennsylvania. Since it was a major concern, the terror attacks dominated all kinds of media and contributed to increased security measures for average Americans. Moreover, terrorism currently provides a major threat to global security that any time in American and global history (Dyson, 2001, p.3). As a result, it has become a fundamental aspect for law enforcement agencies and their initiatives, particularly with the rapid technological advancements.
Local protective measure planning equips first responders with the knowledge needed to organize efficient response results in the event of an emergency. Structured open dialogue between local emergency jurisdictions enables responders to delegate the appropriate individuals and equipment resources to the impacted local areas requiring the most aid following a terror event. By establishing a streamlined communication framework, local emergency responders can collaborate their efforts and resources to promote collective well-being. When a local emergency plan specifies what responders and resources belong where and at what time, response overlap and shortages can be avoided. Unionized response action established prior to a terrorist incident, serves to mitigate the risks, hazards and threat of injury or harm the people and property of the US face when a terrorism event occurs. Furthermore, a structured local emergency operations plan for a hazardous materials incident involving a terrorist is imperative to public health and safety, as the blueprint outlines protective measures the public can follow to minimize their exposure to dangerous substances. The people of a community affected by a terror event can be warned and notified of the event’s associated dangerous materials, which threaten their well-being, through a variety of methods such as warning sirens or horns, emergency alert systems, automated
Once the stuff of movies or perhaps newscasts covering a conflict in some third world backwater country, large scale terrorist operations are now a deadly reality in America. Few will ever forget the images of the Afred P. Murrah Federal Building: its remaining floors held up in a precarious cantilever; bloody, dust-covered survivors struggling to escape through the smoke and flames. These images will be repeated over and over again as our nation moves into the
The terrorist attacks on September 11 changed America forever. The attacks led to President Bush creating the Department of Homeland Security which tried to centralize the federal response to all terrorist threats. However, local police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians will still be the first to arrive at the scene of an attack. These first responders face a unique and increasingly dangerous task when reacting to a terrorist attack on US soil.
8). Therefore, although the attacks of 9/11 generated alterations in our national defense strategies, it additionally adjusted law enforcement policies immensely (Brooks, B. E., 2010, p. 113). It is now more common to have squads of police officers, such as SWAT teams, with specialized training in preventing future terrorist attacks. With exceptions to some officers at the local level, many of these specially trained teams are made up of state and national law enforcement. There are several local law enforcement agencies throughout America that do participate in anti-terrorism training, but on a larger scale many of these local departments lack the necessary training needed to prevent such threats. Therefore, local police departments, who lack special training, depend on the departments that are qualified to aid them. Likewise, the training these lower level law enforcement officers obtain varies greatly than that of state and national law enforcement. Despite the quantity of officers in local law enforcement departments, it is essential that each individual officer undergoes the preparations that are essential to be well equipped for reacting to a threat of terrorism. These preparations are crucial in that local law enforcement officers are often the first responders to these attacks, therefore they should be familiar
Douglasville, a small town in Georgia, held a town hall meeting on how to survive in dangerous situations. This meeting attracted many worried people who felt that they were vulnerable and clueless on how to protect themselves due to the most recent attacks in Paris, a Planned Parenthood clinic, and a massacre of employees in California. An Army Veteran led the meeting with a self defense lecture, a pep talk, and videos that played out scenarios and tips. He believes that with all the negativity this period has endured, citizens should always have a game plan and an idea on what to do in any given situation. At the meeting, they handed out packets with guidelines promoted by the F.B.I and Department of Homeland Security stating that “such incidents
In addition to conventional threats, chemical, biological and radiological weapons of mass destruction have far greater lethality and scope and pose a greater risk than they have in the past. The kkk terrorist attacks demonstrate the extremism and the uncivilized society of terrorist techniques and challenge the traditional approach to security. The Secret Service is challenged to identify and neutralize potential threats by individuals and groups in this increasingly sophisticated, mobile, and violence prone environment.
1. There are three defined intelligence approaches to WMD/Terrorism. These are the Strict Constructionist approach, the Unilateralist Approach, and the Reasonable Necessity approach. Those who believe in the Constructionist approach believe in “...non-violent methods of conflict resolution” and they are “...skeptic of military force and intervention...” (Forest & Howard, 2013, p. 483). People that are into the Unilateralist approach are completely different from those in the Constructionist approach, in which that they believe that “...states have a right to use self-defensive force against some states that have, or will soon have, WMD capabilities-even absent identifiable plants for imminent attack...” (Forest & Howard, 2013, p. 485).
Britton also argues that we have six major issues as a field to resolve. We are still highly response oriented. Although the thrill of the fight is in response, lives may be saved simply by preventing them from being at risk in the first place. The recruitment of emergency managers tends to focus on those with response oriented goals. Although I personally have a good skill set when it comes to prevention, on paper I am very response oriented. Being response oriented is not necessarily a bad thing, however, emergency managers must learn the skills involved in mitigation. As the counter-terrorism field is drawn
The House subcommittee that investigated the truck bombing of the Marine compound in Beirut has concluded that ''very serious errors in judgment'' by officers on the ground and up through the chain of command had left the marines vulnerable to attack. (Brinkley, 1983). In my previous assignment, I worked at a U.S. embassy which clearly applied Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). The embassy Regional Security Office (RSO) and the Marines detachment safeguarded personnel, facilities, and assets against any potentially illegal activities or terrorist attacks. The building was fortified with multiple layers of security. It assumes a noticeable defensive stance towards the host nation, bad actors. Its physical design contributed
The work of Matusiak (2012) reports that one way that one might conceptualize terrorism "is communication amplified by violence. Since the bombing of Japan