Terrorism How Agencies Work Together

¶ … Terrorism [...] how agencies work together to prepare for and respond to a terrorist incident. Interagency Disaster Management, also known as Emergency Management Preparation and Planning (EMP), is essential for responding to a terrorist incident. Ongoing training is also essential to ensure interagency preparedness. For a successful response to a terrorist incident, agencies must work together effectively to control and contain the area, and preparedness training is the only way to achieve these goals.

Preparedness

It is crucial for agencies that would normally respond to a terrorist incident to train together in order to prepare for such an incident. These agencies have to be able to function together effectively, react as first responders, and have a working knowledge of what they could face in an emergency response. These agencies include the emergency management agency, emergency medical personnel, fire services, police services, healthcare personnel, local and state government agencies, hazardous material handlers, public health personnel, and public safety personnel. Clearly, all these responders must know what to do quickly and effectively, which is why preparedness training is crucial for a successful response to a terrorist incident.

How do agencies work together to achieve these goals? Several national organizations offer disaster planning and preparation training. The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC) under the arm of Homeland Security/FEMA offers interagency training throughout the country, and they have conducted training in every state and U.S. territory. They offer grants for local agencies to gain valuable training, and work together to develop training agencies can use within their own areas ("About us, 2009). These coordinated trainings simulate a terrorist incident, and give responders a hands-on approach on how to respond to a terrorist incident.

One of the first issues when preparing for terrorist incidents is to set up an emergency operations center (EOC) to oversee the event. Despite its name, the EOC is not the command post for the exercise. A training Web site notes, "The EOC is part of the support structure for the ICS and its commander, but the EOC does not command, it coordinates and supports" ("Emergency management," 2009). Before the exercise, training should be conducted with all personnel from law enforcement to public health, so they know what is expected of them during the training. Many agencies offer training on terrorist response online, so the entire staff participating in the exercise can participate and gain from the same training courses. Another important element of this is that all agencies participating in the preparedness training must communicate and share information with each other. Not only does this keep communication flowing, it prepares them for working together under crisis conditions, which they will face in the event of a terrorist incident.

Preparedness also necessitates "establishing priorities for response, allocating critical resources, developing strategies for coordinating multi-agency and inter-agency response problems, and facilitating communications" ("Emergency management," 2009). It is important to have trained Incidence Commanders in each agency that know how to coordinate with each other, and it is paramount that training occurs repeatedly to add to the overall effectiveness of the responding personnel. Training can indicate weak areas that need to be focused on, and can identify where preparedness is lacking.

Training must also occur in the many different facets of terrorism, from bioterrorism to bombings or mass casualties through other terrorist types of attacks. Responders will have to asses the damage, along with the continuing threat from biological agents they may have not yet identified, which is an important aspect of preparing for a terrorist attack.

Response

The actual response to a terrorist incident involves multi-agencies and many challenges. Depending on where the attack occurs, several jurisdictions, that may not have trained together, may end up responding to the incident. The editors of the Responder knowledge base Web site note, "This would occur in the midst of confounding uncertainties, limited resources, conflicting priorities and potentially tragic misdirection. Many responders, lacking clear guidance, would simply react to apparent immediate needs" ("Emergency management," 2009). It is important to note that in the event of a terrorist incident, local first responders would be the first on the scene, and it is imperative that incident commanders gain control or at least understand the complexities of the situation. However, there are national agencies, under the guidance of FEMA and other government agencies, that offer national response coordination 24/7 every day of the year. These organizations train in every state, and would eventually coordinate the response operations for a major terrorist incident in the country. The Department of Health and Human Services Web site notes, "The Secretary's Operations Center (SOC) is directly connected to the DHS National Operations Center and the FEMA National Response Operations Center. It serves as the focal point for situational awareness, information management and response coordination for HHS" (Yeskey, 2007). The Secretary also notes there are plans to supply equipment, medical supplies, medical supplies, and more that are in place in case of any type of terrorist incident. In addition, other agencies offer similar terror response units. A group of writers note, "On April 4, 1996, the Marine Corps established the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF) as an immediate terrorism response force capable of deploying anywhere in the world on short notice and remaining deployed for up to 3 weeks if responding outside the Continental United States" (Hill, Galarneau, Pang, and Konoske, 2006, p. 24). These units and others like them help local agencies, where applicable, and are consistently training in terrorism response techniques to keep them alert and always ready for any incident.

One of the biggest challenges of responding to a terrorist incident is communications. Many emergency responders use divergent radio codes to communicate, and this can lead to huge problems with communications. The Responder knowledge base Web site notes, "The complexities and difficulties of sharing data and information that is critical to an effective, safe, and timely coordinated response is at the core of this NTRO" ("Emergency management, 2009). The IC must know how to communicate with the many different agencies, and must make sure information is shared between them in a timely manner.