A definition of Terrorism Incident Management

The number of casualties during terror attacks can be lowered if emergency response teams organize ahead of time. Because terrorists’ main goal is to murder as many people as possible, it may be difficult for specialist teams to put the situation under control without prior planning. The coliseum terror attack is one of the few incidents in which many people have lost loved ones. The situation in the case is critical, and all stakeholders must work together to decrease the number of casualties. First, it will be essential for the emergency response team to identify the safest route that can be used to access the coliseum in order to prevent more injuries and possible death. Therefore, the west side of the coliseum has been identified to be the most appropriate site where the EMS teams can set up a base. Apart from using the west side of the coliseum to ferry fire trucks and heavy equipment into the region, the EMS teams will also use the same venue when airlifting victims to medical facilities. Moreover, it is necessary for the EMS to used media to facilitate their operations and not to expose their response teams to terrorists. Exposing the activities of the EMS teams to terrorists may compromise the whole operation or may result in more casualties.

Terrorism Incident Management

Question 1

With the 180 degree perimeter around the coliseum surrounded by the terrorists, the EMS teams can be set up at the west side of the coliseum near the large pumps, since this is the only place that seems safe. Moreover, the west side of the coliseum will be used as the only way to get fire trucks and other heavy equipment in and out of the area, meaning that this region is safer and can easily be used to access the coliseum. The EMS teams will use Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCAC) to airlift the victims to a medical facility (Coaffee & Wood, 2006). The area can more easily be accessed by LCAC compared to ambulances and other means of transport. Once the fire trucks and heavy equipment have been offloaded, the emergency teams can use the returning LCAC to transport victims with severe injuries to the hospital.

The decision concerning the best facility for the victims will be based on certain factors. First, the EMS teams will consider the distance between the coliseum and the medical facility. For those victims in critical conditions, it will be important to provide emergency treatment services and this situation calls for the identification of nearby medical facilities. Second, the choice of a medical facility will depend on the quality of health services. It is true that victims of terror attacks require efficient care and quality treatment services. With a focus on the quality of the medical services, it will be necessary to take the victims to medical facilities with highly qualified nurses and doctors.

Question 2

Contingency planning involves determining the number of casualties, the criticality of the situation, and deciding on the best medical facilities that can be used to save the lives of the injured. During the terror attack, we expect the number of casualties to range from individuals with fatal injuries to those with small bruises that can be nursed outside hospitals (Waugh & Sylves, 2002). When deciding on which casualties to be moved to what type of facilities, it will be important to factor in the health conditions of the victims so that people with deep cuts or individuals under critical conditions can be moved to facilities that have the most effective equipment and healthcare professionals. However, individuals with light cuts can be given first aid, monitored for a few minutes or hours, and then released. For trauma patients, it will be necessary to use nearby medical facilities, since it will be easier to manage the mass casualty incidents from a nearby location than to move these people to distant hospitals. Moreover, all the medical facilities, including local hospitals, clinics, and the United States Navy, should be included in this contingency plan because there is the expectation that the number of casualties will be high.

Question 3

The police force, the government, and even the terrorists consider the functions and responsibilities of the media from differing ad competitive perspectives, especially when covering a terror attack. It is true that terrorists need some form of publicity so that they can get the attention of the government, instil fear, and get favourable understanding regarding their cause. Therefore, through public indulgent, corporation, control, and loyalty efforts, the media can be used in a way that denies terrorists critical intelligence while promoting the activities of the response teams. The costs and risks to response teams can be reduced by establishing effective relationship between the media and response teams (Waugh & Sylves, 2002). Even though situation analysts recommend several approaches that can be used to prevent media from furthering the objectives of terrorists, the five commonly used methods include: (1) providing a joint media training exercise prior to the attack so that only those individuals who are qualified can be allowed on the terror scene; (2) using government terrorism information response centres so that the situation can be monitored from a central place; (3) encouraging the response teams to use media pools; (4) encouraging voluntary media coverage guidelines; and (5) monitoring the activities of terrorists through the media.

While the primary goal of the media is to let the situation be known to members of the public, the government and the response teams have the common interest of ensuring that terrorists do not use the media to promote their cause, actions, or methods. Even though the response team can use the media to their advantage, in the situations described, may consider the media to be a hindrance to the successful operations of the teams (Perrow, 2006). At times, allowing the media into the scene may compromise the whole operation because it will be hard to tell who the media is reporting to and the intention behind such reports. The kind of information that leaves the terror scene can promote or compromise the situation because the main idea here is to prevent terrorists from accomplishing their goals, compromise their prevailing strategies, and restore democracy by giving people hope.

Question 4

Apart from using explosives, it may be hard for the SWAT team to break a hole through the coliseum. However, through the efforts of the Fire Rescue Department (FRD) and breaching teams, the coliseum can be accessed through a hole drilled on one side of the coliseum. During emergency situations, the response teams must have complete knowledge of the fire department assets based on their conditions and how they can be used in case there is a need to access the scene. These departments will always use their skills to provide immediate and quick access to power tools and medical equipment (Perrow, 2006). The fire department assets will need to use a rock breaker tool instead of an explosive so as to keep the patrons safe from injuries. Once fitted into the cores hole, the fire department assets can use the hardened insets that expand outward to force a hole on the wall of the coliseum. The rock breaker tool is considered for this operation because the process results in a gentle “burst” with no flying debris and exploding sounds. Similarly, the fire department may decide to use the tool to bring the entire wall face down. Police officers and regular security guards will be required to ensure the safety of the fire fighters while breaking the coliseum’s walls. The officers and regular guards must remain attentive to the situation and ensure maximum protection in order to prevent further casualties.

Question 5

With multiple cars burning all around the coliseum, it will be important to deploy fire asset management teams to extinguish the fires and bring the situation back to normal. The services of the fire rescue department and the EMS units will also be required, since these departments have the necessary equipment needed to track and extinguish fire. The fire fighters will be important in this situation when it comes to extinguishing hazardous fires and rescuing people and property from the dangerous situations. Fire fighters should start their work at the landing point on the west side of the coliseum near the pumps. The decision to begin with this part is based on the fact that the area provides easy access to the region and any obstructions may compromise the rescue activities. By extinguishing fire around these areas, the fire fighters will be making it easier for the police force, guards, and SWAT teams to access the area and help normalize the situation. Just like in case four, the police officers and regular security guards will be used to provide the fire fighters with a safe working environment and to ensure real time response in case there are additional security breaches.

Question 6

By deploying the responding SWAT teams into the operation, the main idea will be to contain he situation as much as possible so that no terrorist can escape the venue. However, collection and reporting of intelligent information is a fundamental process during the prevention of terrorism (De Goede, 2008). The primary role of EMS is to provide law enforcement agencies and other parties involved in the rescue mission with intelligent information regarding the exact location of terrorists and survivors of the attack so that innocent civilians can not be mistaken for terrorists and killed.

During the operation to secure the coliseum, the EMS will be sent together with the SWAT teams and police officers (De Goede, 2008). This is because the entire mission depends on timely and accurate intelligence information that must be shared among all the parties involved. In addition to the SWAT teams and police officers, the situation will require the use of EMS personnel as the first responders with their key functions revolving around reporting roles. One of the methods that can be used to improve the activities of EMS personnel as the first responder is to train them on the best methods that can be used to identify and report suspicious activities, particularly those related to terrorism (De Goede, 2008). During the incident, the first requirement will be for the EMS teams to understand their roles which include providing assistance and specialized emergency services to the affected individuals. Even though these individuals will be working side by side with the SWAT teams and police officers, they will not arrest, detain, or question the individuals they will come across during the operation. By the virtue that the EMS profession revolves around providing reports on specific criminal activities and presence of terrorists, it is necessary that they find support from security personnel, including the police force and SWAT teams.

Question 7

After securing the coliseum and arresting the terrorists, the next move will be to identify and group the casualties according to the sustained injuries. The grouping will be important because it will allow for easy assignment of doctors, nurses, and other medical specialists. For instance, we will have casualties with gunshot wounds put together and attended to by teams of doctors specialized in management of gunshot wounds. After grouping the patients, the next step will be to identify those individuals requiring urgent medical attention (May, Sapotichne, & Workman, 2009). The casualties with fatal injuries will be moved to the nearby medical facilities so that they can receive urgent medical attention. However, patients with minor injuries may be moved to hospitals that are located further so that there is no congestion in nearby hospitals.

It is also obvious that the whole experience may make many victims develop trauma. Individuals suffering from trauma will be identified and put under the management of specialists to help them get back to normal. After removing the affected people from the venue, the next requirement will be to search the place for any explosives and other pieces of evidence that can be used against the surviving terrorists (May et al., 2009). Other valuable items that are still in good condition may also be removed from the site and kept safely.

Since the bridges and roads had been destroyed during the attack and are not in good condition, it will not be advisable to use them. Instead, the rescue teams can use helicopters to airlift the victims to appropriate hospitals. The general security guards, police officers, SWAT teams, and other individuals involved in the rescue mission will only leave the scene after ensuring that the situation has been contained and everything is back to normal (De Goede, 2008). Before then, the SWAT teams, EMS, police officers, and the security guards will remain on the scene to provide more security and continue with the evacuation process.

Question 8

By using temporary bridges, the fleet of helicopters, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles it will be easier to move the victims from the incidence to safer locations or medical facilities. As already mentioned, it will be necessary to identify those individuals with very serious wounds or casualties who require urgent medical attention so that they can be moved as quickly as possible to medical facilities. Since people with fatal injuries will require urgent treatment in nearby hospitals, they can be move using ambulances and other emergency vehicles (Waugh & Sylves, 2002). The ambulances are beneficial in such situations because, unlike helicopters and other emergency vehicles, they are fitted with medical equipment that can still be used to keep patients in good condition before they research hospitals. The helicopters, on the other hand, will be used to move casualties with minor injuries from the scene of crime to hospitals so that they can also get the necessary treatment. Helicopters will be preferred in this case because the casualties will be moved to far hospitals in order to avoid congestion in nearby health facilities (Waugh & Sylves, 2002). However, in situations where the capacity of nearby hospitals will not accommodate all the patients under critical conditions, it will be important to airlift some of these patients to far medical facilities to avoid further delays in treatment. The whole process can be done in a very organized manner and in a way that is fast, efficient, and effective.

Question 9

Proper management of the diseased will be critical to the whole process of evacuation and it will begin with a proper search of the dead, identification of bodies in situ, transfer of the bodies to facilities that can be used as morgues, informing the family members of the deceased, delivering the corpses to the respective families, and provision of state burial, or any other method of disposal as indicated by the members of the family (May et al., 2009). The process will require the involvement of a professional team including the rescue personnel, individuals from the forensic department, prosecution team, police officers, administrative staffs, psychologists, and support teams, representatives from private and government institutions, and volunteers from the surrounding community. The removal of the deceased will require adequate coordination among all actors to prevent misuse of the available resource or to eliminate cases of resource duplication. All the 2,531 victims who died at the venue and the additional 253 people who died at the local hospitals must be removed to a staging area for identification and proper burial. The search, identification, and removal of the deceased are important stages in disaster management because they help the relevant authorities bring the deceased closer to members of their families for respectful burial. Therefore, the process that will help communities and families identify their loved ones should not be considered as an isolated action, but rather as a fundamental step in disaster management.

Question 10

When preparing for the next attack, it will be important to consider developing a plan that takes into consideration proper assessment of the current situation in terms of security challenges and strengths (Holgersson & Strandh, 2016). The assessment of the current situation will help determine whether or not the available human resources have the capacity to handle emergency situations. The assessment will also help determine the financial capacity of the emergency department to deal with a similar situation in case it happens in the future. This will also mean putting in place logistical resources and other equipment required to manage the situation. Apart from situational assessment, it will be important to consider possible emergency situations and this will mean focusing on the number of terror incidences that have been witnessed in the region and the number of casualties registered during such occurrences (Holgersson & Strandh, 2016). With these figures, the response teams can estimate the casualties and the best response technique to use to reduce the number of injuries and deaths. Still under emergency scenarios, there has to be a plan on how the resources can be accessed in real time to help bring the situation back to normal. Police officers, general security guards, SWAT teams, and EMS teams must remain alert. This implies that the department will be working under extra-budgetary finances to meet the required security situation.

Preparation will also mean determining features of administration that can be helpful during disaster management. The features to be recognized here include institutions and individuals that take part in decision-making processes, particularly when it comes to the management of casualties. However, the plan should not be highly detailed because the condition may change depending on the number and intentions of terrorists (Holgersson & Strandh, 2016). The response plan will be divided into independent constituents, since effective response approach does not mean sending all the specialized teams to the field. It will also be necessary for the emergency coordinator to ensure that the plan circulates widely so that every team member understands his or her role during the evacuation.

With the plan in place, the emergency personnel will be required to engage in continuous training. The training should focus more on teamwork with little aspects of professional proficiency (De Goede, 2008). The teams should also be taken through periodic exercises as a means of testing the plan. The exercise is necessary because it can be used to determine the validity of the abstract plan during emergency situations.

References

Coaffee, J., & Wood, D. M. (2006). Security is coming home: Rethinking scale, and constructing resilience in the global urban response to terrorist risk. International Relations, 20(4), 503-517.

De Goede, M. (2008). Beyond risk: “Premediation” and the post-9/11 security imagination. Security Dialogue, 39(2-3), 155-176.

Holgersson, A., & Strandh, V. (2016). Emergency organizations’ diverging perceptions of terrorist attacks. International Journal of Emergency Services, 5(1), 82-94.

May, P. J., Sapotichne, J., & Workman, S. (2009). Widespread policy disruption: Terrorism, public-risks, and homeland security. Policy Studies Journal, 37(2), 171-194.

Perrow, C. (2006). The disaster after 9/11: The department of homeland security and the intelligence reorganization. Homeland Security Affairs, 2(1).

Waugh Jr., W. L., & Sylves, R. T. (2002). Organizing the “war on terrorism”. Public Administration Review, 62(1), 145-153.