Infogram

March 11, 2004

NOTE: This INFOGRAM will be distributed weekly to provide members of the emergency management and response sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. It has been prepared by NATEK Incorporated for the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by e-mail at emr-isac@dhs.gov.

Emergency Services: A National Critical Infrastructure

The National Strategy for Homeland Security identified 13 critical infrastructure sectors: government, emergency services, water, agriculture, food, defense industrial base, information and telecommunications, energy, transportation, banking and finance, chemical and hazardous materials, postal and shipping, and public health. The human assets, physical entities, and communication systems that comprise these critical infrastructure sectors enable Americans to enjoy security, safety, and public health standards far exceeding most nations of the world. Therefore, the Federal Government considers these critical infrastructures so vital to the United States that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating impact on national physical and economic security in addition to public health and safety.

The Emergency Services Sector (ESS) basically consists of the fire, police, emergency medical, and emergency management professionals who provide the fundamental services that citizens depend on to survive. Consequently, the ESS has tremendously high value for the people of this nation as well as our adversaries. Those opposed to American political, social, and religious ideals recognize that the ESS is a lucrative and vulnerable target. These domestic and transnational terrorists understand that a calamitous attack on the ESS would significantly diminish the national morale and overall confidence in federal, state, and local governments.

Considering this reality, the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC), representing a portion of the ESS (i.e., firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and emergency managers), will continue to research and propose time-efficient and resource-restrained protective measures and best practices for the EMR sub-sector. Despite severely limited resources, senior leaders of the sub-sector should persistently seek and find the appropriate means to prepare for, mitigate, or respond to terrorism and all hazards. Furthermore, all preparations and responses should guarantee the survivability, continuity of operations, and mission success of EMR organizations and agencies.

The Wildfire Threat

Repeatedly, the EMR-ISAC has maintained that wildfires are a threat to the critical infrastructures of community operations and emergency responders, in addition to citizens and their property. Now officials from the National Interagency Fire Center, Boise, Idaho, are concerned that much of the West faces a potential wildfire danger that threatens to exceed all previous records. Center experts affirmed that persistent drought, exacerbated by below-average snow pack, and insect-infested timber killed off huge tracts of forestland creating conditions for a possibly devastating wildfire season.

FEMA's Region VIII, in Denver, Colorado, responsible for many Western States, is working aggressively with its local and state officials to promote wildfire mitigation measures. They are also encouraging homeowners to take steps as soon as possible to reduce the "fire load" around their homes and to consider making family disaster communication and evacuation plans.

Basic CIP Start-Up Suggestions

There are increasing numbers of first response departments that are currently exploring how to internally implement the discipline of critical infrastructure protection (CIP) without the expenditure of a lot of labor and money. To assist these and other organizations, the EMR-ISAC offers the following three basic CIP start-up suggestions:

Establish accountability by deciding which senior leader in the department will be responsible for the effective implementation of CIP.
Ensure the senior accountable leader utilizes the CIP process to determine what really needs protection from all hazards.
Promote awareness of the threats to the organization's critical infrastructures from all hazards and maintain constant vigilance for those threats.

More specific guidance can be obtained in the CIP Process Job Aid: http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/subjects/emr-isac/cipc-jobaid.shtm, or by contacting the EMR-ISAC at 301-447-1325, or by e-mail at emr-isac@dhs.gov.

Animal Diseases: A Threat?

At the recent International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, veterinary medicine specialists agreed, "continually evolving new disease threats necessitate more attention toward the health of animals." They reported 91 percent of the most dangerous bioterrorism agents and 75 percent of the new diseases that menaced mankind during the last 20 years are animal diseases that gained the ability to infect humans. They expressed particular concern that "bioterrorists could cause famine and widespread economic disruption by targeting farm animals like cattle or swine."

The conference participants recommended a detection system that "merges surveillance for people, wildlife, and animals so that, as these microbes are spread form one population to another, we will understand the nature of the spread and come up with prevention strategies." They further indicated that expeditiously recognizing symptoms in people and animals should be a crucial component of disease detection.

CIP specialists hypothesize that that a bioterrorist attack on farm animals could directly involve the EMR community in at least two ways: emergency medical personnel will come in contact with contaminated victims, and emergency management and response leaders will have to conduct preparedness planning and actual response operations. For these reasons, the EMR-ISAC proposes that EMR decision-makers give some thought to the readiness of their plans and personnel for human infections resulting from animal diseases.

FAIR USE NOTICE

This INFOGRAM may contain copyrighted material that was not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. EMR-ISAC personnel believe this constitutes "fair use" of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material contained within this document for your own purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Reporting Notice

DHS and the FBI encourage recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and/or the FBI. The DHS National Operation Center (NOC) can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9685 or by e-mail at NOC.Fusion@dhs.gov.

The FBI regional phone numbers can be found online at www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm

For information affecting the private sector and critical infrastructure, contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC), a sub-element of the NOC. The NICC can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9201 or by e-mail at NICC@dhs.gov.

When available, each report submitted should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact.

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