Disaster

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Chemical and Biological Disaster Response

Four events of the 10s significantly sharpened the nations perception of chemical-biological warfare. First, Saddam Hussein used intermediate-range Scud missiles to demonstrate the possibility of operating in a contaminated environment during the Persian Gulf War. Second, the World Trade Center bombing in 1 demonstrated that foreign terrorists could not only operate on American soil, but could launch a chemical/biological attack.[1] Third, the Oklahoma City bombing in 15 proved that domestic terrorists could harm the nation as well. And fourth, the sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo cult made chemical warfare a reality. [1] A United Nations report from 16 defines chemical warfare agents as ..chemical substances, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, which might be employed because of their direct toxic effects on man, animals and plants.... The Chemical Weapons Convention defines chemical weapons as including not only toxic chemicals but also ammunition and equipment for their dispersal. Toxic chemicals are stated to be ... any chemical which, through its chemical effect on living processes, may cause death, temporary loss of performance, or permanent injury to people and animals [1].

A number of agencies are involved in domestic preparedness. The National Security Council is the interagency consequence management coordinator; the Justice Department, through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, handles crisis management and is responsible for preventing any attacks; the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for consequence management after an attack; and first-responders include local municipalities and state governments.

The United States responded to the threat of terrorism and chemical/biological warfare when President Clinton signed PDD- in June 15, PDD-6 in May 18, and the 17 National Defense Authorization Act. The latter included the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 16, also known as the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici amendment.[5] The statute and presidential directives are the foundation of our nations counter terrorism response. It provide's guidance to federal agencies and state agencies.

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Following the PDD- signing, other terrorist acts reinforced the belief that it is not a matter of if, but rather of when terrorists will strike with biological or chemical weapons. As Senator Richard Lugar commented in 15, Americans have every reason to expect a nuclear, biological, or chemical attack before the decade is over.[6] Discovery of Saddam Husseins weapons of mass destruction projects reinforced the American fear of them combining terrorism with a chemical or biological weapon.[7]

Additionally, political wording concerning weapons of mass destruction attacks was dramatized, exaggerated, and eventually sensationalized in films. For example movies such as The Rock, Outbreak, and Twelve Monkeys. The most important factor in the creation of an American chemical/biological response was the changing nature of acts of terrorism itself, though the United States abandoned and destroyed its biological program in 17 following the approval of the Biological Weapons Convention Treaty

The Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 16 (the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 17) advocated the training of first-responders to deal with a weapons of mass destruction terrorist incidents. In 17, the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Domestic Preparedness Program began training first-responders firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians in over 115 U.S. cities. As part of this program, the military specifically was tasked to develop and maintain at least one domestic terrorism rapid response team composed of members of the armed forces . . . capable of aiding federal, state, and local officials in the detection, neutralization, containment, disassembly, and disposal of weapons of mass destruction containing chemical, biological, or related material.[] The Secretary of Defense designated the Secretary of the Army to serve as Executive Agent for the coordination of this mission and to develop a Domestic Preparedness Plan.[10]

More than 85 years of experience in defending against biological and chemical weapons and 50 years of experience in nuclear defense made the Department Of Defense the most knowledgeable and resourceful department available.

The Department of Justice, through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is responsible for crisis management of domestic terrorist incidents. State governments have primary responsibility for consequence management in cases of domestic disasters, including major terrorist attacks; the federal government, under Federal Emergency Management Agency, can respond to state and local requests for support under the Federal Response Plan. This plan outlines the roles, responsibilities, and emergency support functions of various federal agencies.

There are numerous local, state, and federal organizations that can perform consequence management. For example, the General Accounting Office reports that over 600 local and state HAZMAT teams exist in the United States to assess and act on accidents involving highly toxic chemicals and other hazardous materials.[11] In addition, numerous federal organizations provide advice, technical experts, and equipment to local incident commanders.

States and local municipalities have begun meeting the consequence management requirement with their own internal resources because of their increased understanding. In a 1 General Accounting Office report, many state officials indicated that they maintained a reliable consequence management capability and that their own experienced technicians can not only perform sufficient detection and identification to begin to handle the situation, but also work in the stressful, dangerous environment.[11] Some states stopped relying on the use of federal assets in some areas because they could not arrive in time to be effective, since the federal and military units do not operate routinely with any existing state programs. State officials dismiss the idea of fully relying on federal assets because of concerns about their availability and responsiveness if the state ever needed them.[10]

When dealing with any potential incident, past experience has taught us that the first necessary task is to secure the area and determine the nature and severity of the threat. In the past several instances of terroristic attacks/incidents it has been reported that a secondary device/incident has been targeted at emergency responders (I.e. police, fire fighters and other emergency responders at the scene) in attempt to harm or kill rescuers and disrupt the emergency operations.

In most cases, a primary and secondary secured perimeter must be established and a thorough search of the perimeters must be a priority to the first responders. In the event of a biological or chemical attack/release, a large downwind area may also need to be secured and evacuated. This will minimize civilian casualties.

The second problem involving a attack/release of a chemical or biological agent, is identification. As is the case in most common industrial hazardous-materials accidents, the first priority in the management of the incident involves determining the identity and physical properties of the substance that has been released. It is only after the chemical/biological identity is determined that an effective outer perimeter can be established.

A serious consideration that needs to be taken by first responders (I.e. officers, fire fighters, etc) is that most civilian emergency service agencies (including hazardous materials teams) currently don't have the effective testing equipment to help identify most chemical or biological agents that might have been used or present at a scene [1].

The primary functions that must be performed at any chemical/biological attack/release remain fairly consistent nation wide, from state to state, and city to city. The first responder, usually a police officer, should make the initial call to close and evacuate the area, determine the needs (I.e.. activation of other multi agencies), and to alert the FAA, Emergency Management Division and others as needed. The top twenty actions that must be taken will generally involve the following and most of these actions will more than likely occur simultaneous [1].

1. Incident Size-up and assessment [1]

. Scene Control/establishment of perimeter(s) [1]

. Product Identification/information gathering [1]

4. Pre-entry examination and determination [1]

5. Establishment of a decontamination area [1]

6. Entry planning/preparation of equipment [1]

7. Entry into a contaminated area & rescue of victims [1]

8. Containment of spill/release [1]

. Neutralization of spill/release [1]

10. Decontamination of victims/patients/rescuers [1]

11. Triage of ill/injured [1]

1. Basic life support care [1]

1. Hospital/expert consultation [1]

14. ALS care/specific antidotes [1]

15. Transport of patients to appropriate hospital [1]

16. Post-Entry evaluation examination of rescuers/equipment [1]

17. Complete stabilization of the incident/collection of evidence [1]

18. Delegation of final clean up to responsible party [1]

1. Record-keeping/after-action reporting [1]

0. Complete analysis of actions/recommendations to action plan [1]

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In order to effectively perform their duties at a chemical/biological release everyone must understand some basic toxicology principals. Too little of this training is available for our local and state law enforcement officers and staff. As in any crisis, the local Police, Fire departments, and EMS agencies will be immediately responsible for an operation involving a chemical/biological release and casualties [1].

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