how would i crtiqe or provide feedback

Based on the Read items thus far, pick a WMD/CBRNE event or threat and discuss how this specific weapon, agent, etc. would need to be prepared for and responded to from a first responder leader perspective. Be sure to discuss action planning and safeguards needed such as response strategies and personnel protective equipment issues.

Explosive Attack Preparation and Response

I live and work in Houston. It is the 4^th largest city in the US, and arguably the most city for the energy industry, and especially for oil and gas. Given the combustible nature of oil and gas, local authorities must always be prepared for explosions in the oil infrastructure especially at refineries, ships, and pipelines.

The first and foundational part of preparation is creating emergency response plans (Bennett, 2018). These plans should include contingencies in the event of any plausible natural, accidental, or malicious emergencies. Within the plan, there should be preparations before the disaster, such as installation of alarm systems and drills for personnel, as well as protocols for use during the disaster, like designated rally points and facilities, procedures to account for employees, and evacuation plans.

Pre-incident planning should be thorough. A good strategy for planning is to consider the response for an individual agency, then a response for an emergency that will require collaboration with other local agencies, then a larger response that would also include state agencies, and finally the response to a very large disaster that would involve federal resources. In each scenario, the role of each of the potential responding agencies should be identified and defined. For an explosion, local emergency management division, medical, and law enforcement work together. The state emergency services can be consulted if necessary. Finally, FEMA, the ATF, the Coast Guard, and even the national guard can be deployed if the situation is bad enough (McGee, 2021).

The response to a disaster, by definition, occurs within an environment of enhanced risk. Therefore, there must be certain safeguards to balance the level of risk accepted in the response with the potential reward. Voluntarily accepted risk should be commensurate with potential reward. Our society considers saving a life to be worth the most risk, because human life is invaluable. Our valuation of human life comes from a Biblical perspective, holding that God made Man "in his image" and "crowned him with glory and honor" (English Standard Version, 2001, Genesis 1:26, Psalm 8:5). This valuation of human life applies to both the endangered and the rescuers.

Given the value of life, planners must be sure to procure adequate PPE for first responders. PPE is any equipment worn by an individual and designed to defend them against risk of physical harm, including traumatic, chemical, inhalation, or any other form of injury. The type of PPE that the organization acquires must be carefully considered. PPE can be expensive, and many kinds of PPE must be used in very specific ways to be effective, which requires training. Which employees are issued which types of PPE and are trained in its use is a practical consideration that matters greatly during a response and can affect the organization through legal liability afterwards since failure to provide PPE may result in lawsuits from injured employees. In the context of explosive attack, the presumption should be that the environment is highly contaminated, potentially by both the weapon and the target. Respiratory protection especially is a basic precaution that the organization should supply (Sian & Smyth, 2021).

It is insufficient for the organization to merely possess PPE, or any other type of equipment. That equipment must also be disseminated effectively when and where it is needed. Logistics, the art of moving people and equipment, is easily overlooked but critically important. Planners should put a heavy emphasis on this (Dalal & ster, 2021). Transportation is closely linked to logistics. We often take easy transportation for granted, but in the public panic and confusion after a major explosion, ingress and egress for first responders and their equipment can become difficult. First responders need to be decisive in determining and clearing routes. (Singh, 2020).

Course Thoughts

My views regarding CI protection changed during this course. I formerly thought that, as a high-level strategy, protecting individual CI was the best plan, but now think that greater emphasis should generally be placed on resiliency and redundancy of systems. It is not practical to protect individual CI installations against everything, but the system as a whole can be made robust.

The most important thing I learned about in this class is material that will inform my response as a first responder supervisor in disaster situations. Eventually I will be required to coordinate a response during a major disaster, and the ideas from this class will be part of that response.

References

Bennett, B. T. (2018). Understanding, assessing, and responding to terrorism: Protecting critical infrastructure and personnel (2^nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Dalal, J., & ster, H. (2021). Robust emergency relief supply planning for foreseen disasters under evacuation-side uncertainty. Transportation Science, 55(3), 791-813. https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.2020.1020

McGee, K. (2021). A place worth protecting: Rethinking cost-benefit analysis under FEMA's flood-mitigation programs.The University of Chicago Law Review,88(8), 1925-1970. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27082294

Sian, S., & Smyth, S. (2021). Supreme emergencies and public accountability: The case of procurement in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 35(1), 146-157. 10.1108/AAAJ-08-2020-4860

Singh, Z. (2020). Disasters: Implications, mitigation, and preparedness.Indian Journal of Public Health,64(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijph.IJPH_40_20

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. (2001). Crossway Bibles.