But What if it is not Just a Test?

The United States is moving towards the somber milestone of the 10^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Next September (2012), the world will no doubt pause to remember the 40^th year since the terrorist attack on 20^th Olympiad in Germany where 11 Israeli athletes were killed. Meanwhile the nation of Norway is still struggling to understand the tragedy of last month which left nearly 80 young people dead and scores of other wounded. What do these three events have in common aside from the obvious common denominator of terrorism? In each case, lives were lost due to deficiencies in emergency planning.

On September 11^th there was a breakdown in the Four-C’s of coordination, communications, command and control caused by the fact that New York City’s Emergency Command Center was located in World Trade Ctr. Building seven. In Munich in 1972, much blame was placed on the German police for not having a SWAT or Rapid Response Team, trained and equipped to deal with the hostage crisis. In Norway, there is still a degree of outrage being expressed over the 60-90 minute response time it took police to get to the island camp and apprehend the confessed shooter.

Also last week saw the conviction of five New Orleans Police officers for their role in unjustified shootings which occurred in the chaotic wake of hurricane Katrina.

As state and local governments reduce police and fire forces due to budgetary constraints and private businesses continue to downsize in all areas there is growing concern among some safety experts that training and real-world execution of comprehensive emergency planning may suffer.

According to the experts we spoke with, an outdated or unpracticed emergency plan is like a ticking “time bomb” just waiting to go off. The event may be terrorism, fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, chemical leak or any number of other possible scenarios. Here are some comments the experts shared with NEWSNAC.

“People tend to write emergency plans then treat them like the Bible. As a practical matter they are reluctant to update them and sometimes to even share them within an organization. In the private sector they are usually kept locked up in the office of the facilities manager or head of security. So even if they are current and applicable unless the event occurs during the time that person is on the job and the event does not prevent them from reaching their office, they may as well be on Mars.”

“Fire is a common threat so most emergency plans are primarily just fire evacuation plans. The occupants are taught simply to respond like Pavlov’s Dog and walk to their assigned fire exit when they hear the alarm, but there are numerous emergency scenarios where this is the wrong choice. If there’s a gunman in the building the last thing you want is a hallway crowded with people trying to reach the fire escapes. Same thing is true if there’s something like a tornado warning. In the case of a gunman the right move is usually going to be a lock-down, for a tornado it’s shelter-in-place, preferably in a room or hallway without windows. People need to be trained and drilled on lock-down and shelter-in-place just as much as on escaping fire. You need to establish how you would communicate this information because obviously you do not want people pulling the fire alarm for any type of emergency.”

“I am gravely concerned with some of the comments I have been hearing regarding cancellations of annual full-scale drills in favor of desktop drills. Many first responder agencies are being told that there simply is not the money for overtime, or extra fuel or the other costs associated with these drills.”

“There should be concern with the current cuts in government budgets and how that will impact routine maintenance of equipment. So many agencies have helicopters which play a multifaceted role in their overall operations. Helicopters are very maintenance intensive and even the slightest deviation from full due diligence there can lead to a tragedy. But you can say the same about fire and rescue vehicle and the specialized gear worn by firemen or hazmat teams.”

The experts even spoke to the possible economic issues which may impact the emergency plans of the individual American family.

“The tragedy in Norway killed as more people in 90 minutes as usually die in an entire year in that country due to fire because they have a mandatory smoke detector law for all residences. I think we started to see in recent years with oil so high and people having trouble making ends meet, a return to kerosene and electric space heaters, both of which are safe if properly used and maintained but are deadly when they are not.”

Following the controversial Debt Ceiling debate and passage, congress adjourned for their summer recess without authorizing funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. While the issue did not impact air traffic controllers it should have impacted some safety inspectors. The only reason it did not was because of the dedication of these civil servants who not only worked without pay, but funded their agency travel from their own money. A stop-gap bill has been passed putting the inspectors back in full employment with expenses starting Monday August 8, 2011. It was a noble example of single-minded public concern for safety, but it will be a dangerous illusion if other cash-strapped agencies decide that shortfalls in public safety budgets will always be covered by their workers at the workers’ expense.