Terrorism Threat: A Local Burden

by John Ronan

It is a rare day when the front pages of the country's newspapers do not describe a new terrorism attack or the rippling effects of a terrorist strike just passed. From Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, and Omagh, back to the World Trade Center, Oklahoma City, and Lockerbie, the list is tragically long.

It will grow longer. Incidents are increasing and, because terrorist events tend to be under-reported, are actually more frequent than state and federal agencies have logged. Sacramento Fire Dept. Division Chief Jan Dunbar, writing in Fire Chief, refers to recorded events as the "...tip of the iceberg. We know not when, where or the extent of any planned or impromptu terrorist act. What we do know is these acts will continue."

Terrorist strikes will go beyond the familiar use of explosives. According to one scientist interviewed by Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event, biological incidents alone are now running at one per month! According to the FBI, there are approximately 900 terrorist and militia groups in the United States, each capable of launching some form of terrorist attack.

During the first critical hours following a terrorist strike, local fire and emergency service agencies will have to bear the burden of fighting terrorism in whatever form it takes, chemical, biological, or nuclear. As Andrea Walter has written in the IEMS News, "Inevitably, increasing numbers of America's local emergency managers will have to face the task of dealing with the consequences of terrorist actions."

In a scene from "Terrorism: 1st Response," emergency responders from the Sacramento Fire Department sample a suspected biological agent.

The need to prepare is urgent. The nation knows, because of Oklahoma City and other incidents, the realities of ANFO. But as destructive as explosives can be, other potential terrorist weapons are even more frightening.

A biological example demonstrates the point. Six ounces of powdered anthrax, a bacterial threat, could kill hundreds of thousands of people. What's more, because few American doctors have seen cases of anthrax, it probably would not be quickly or accurately diagnosed, according to experts. Worse, anthrax that did not kill in the first wave of an attack could survive as spores - for decades!

Ricin, another threat, is regarded as one of the ten deadliest poisons known. There are no vaccines or antitoxins available for treatment of ricin exposure. Ricin was reportedly used in the assassination of Georgi Markov in London, in 1978, and an American, Tom Lavy, tried to import ricin into the United States in 1995. No doubt, ricin will appear again; it is a protein easily extracted from one of the world's most common crops, the Castor plant, source of the more familiar Castor Oil.

Other weapons in the terrorist arsenal are as readily available. Anyone can still purchase fertilizer and fuel oil and concoct ANFO. Many biological and chemical agents can be produced or grown in simple laboratories with off-the-shelf equipment, such as refrigerators, separators, dryers, and fermentors. Nuclear bombs are not regarded by experts as an immediate threat because of the rarity of plutonium-239 and uranium-235. But other radioactive materials, such as cobalt-90, carbon-14, or cesium-137, are commonly used at industrial and medical sites. A chemical bomb laced with radiological contaminants could create widespread social disruption and achieve the attacker's central goal: terror.

Local fire and health officials are scrambling to learn how to combat

terrorism
Local fire and health officials are scrambling to learn how to combat terrorism. Are HazMat SOPs sufficient? What gear will be needed? What is a detection ticket? Will vapor protective gear protect against biological threats? Where do you fix a perimeter at a radiological incident?

Sadly, most local agencies are not able to answer these basic questions. They have not been trained or equipped for anti-terrorist action. As a headline in the September 6, 1998 New York Times read: "Nation Lacks Plan to Deter Terrorism..." Despite Presidential Directives and the Terrorism Act of 1996, the national level of preparedness is not yet adequate to the task. Local officials will have to rely on their own initiative.

John Ronan is a department head at North Shore Community College in Beverley, MA as well as a freelance writer.

Note: Emergency Film Group has produced the Terrorism Response Series, a video-based training series that helps emergency response personnel to be pro-active in preparing for and responding to WMD incidents. The series consists of 11 DVDs or videos plus accompanying Leader’s Guides.

John Ronan is a department head at North Shore Community College in Beverley, MA as well as a freelance writer.

Note: Emergency Film Group has produced the Terrorism Response Series, a video-based training series that helps emergency response personnel to be pro-active in preparing for and responding to WMD incidents. The series consists of 11 DVDs or videos plus accompanying Leader’s Guides.