Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Firehouse.com Content: Terrorism & Front Lines: Survey Find’s Nation’s Firefighters Not Adequately Prepared, Funded and Equipped for Terror/WMD

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 21:39:04 -0500

http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?id=7192&sectionId=1

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Updated: 03-12-2003 05:53:14 PM

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Survey Find’s Nation’s Firefighters Not Adequately Prepared, Funded and Equipped for Terror/WMD

Staggering Percentage of Respondents Feel Their Departments Lack Resources

............

HEATHER CASPI

Firehouse.com News

As the United States gears up for the possibility of additional terrorist actions on our door steps, an overwhelming majority of firefighters surveyed on Firehouse.com, 87 percent, said their fire departments do not have the necessary equipment to respond to a Weapons of Mass Destruction incident, and 90 percent said local and federal governments have not provided enough funding to properly respond to mass casualty incidents.

Inside the Survey

• Click: Full Survey Results Sortable By Primary Demographics

Respondant Profile

Type of Department: 21% Combination; 23% All Paid; 43% All Volunteer

Location: 40% Northeast; 26% Midwest; 22% Southeast; 7% Southwest; 5% Northwest

Rank: 24% Chief/Command Officer; 25% Company Officer; 33% Firefighter

More Responses

Selected questions from the survey in addition to those outlined in the story

What would be the hardest thing for you personally to deal with if you were a first responder to a terrorist attack?

Knowing We May Not Be Prepared: 39%

Fear of the Unknown: 25%

Knowing My Family Will be Worried: 17%

Knowing I May Not Come Back: 10%

What do you feel your department needs that it doesn't have right now to respond more effectively to a WMD/Terrorism incident? (could choose up to three)

Detection Equipment: 23%

Training in CBRNE Response: 20%

Personal Protective Gear: 13%

Staffing/Properly Trained Personnel: 12%

Mass Casualty Supplies: 11%

Other HazMat Equipment: 8%

Breathing Equipment: 5%

Related Coverage

IAFF Urges End to Bickering on Homeland Security

DHS Announces $600M for First Responders

Message from Secretary Tom Ridge to Our Nation's Fire Service

Firefighter Grant Period Opens

ICHIEFS: Breugman

Resources

Firehouse.com: Terrorism

Firehouse.com: Funding

Department of Homeland Security

ICHIEFS

IAFF

FEMA

Most first responders do not feel that their response area is likely to suffer a terrorist attack but they still feel that they should be better prepared and better equipped. This was the overall tone of the 2,800 firefighters surveyed on Firehouse.com about their level of preparedness for terrorism.

Yesterday the International Association of Fire Fighters put out a statement urging the Bush administration and the House Appropriations Committee to get moving on getting Homeland Security funds out to first responders.

"It is time to end the blame game, the political posturing, and the petty bickering that have crippled the efforts of the nation's firefighters and other first responders to prepare to handle the next terrorist attack on American soil," IAFF President Harold A. Schaitberger said in the prepared statement. "...All we want is to secure the necessary funding before it is too late."

"It's been more than 15 months since the fire service and other first responders were promised $3.5 billion in Homeland Security funds to help local fire departments, EMS, and law enforcement prepare for anti-terrorism response," Schaitberger told Firehouse.com. "So far, we have seen next to nothing."

"We have lost more than a year of preparation time and that is time we cannot afford to lose," he said.

Other experts agree that first responders have much to do to prepare for another attack.

"Are we equipped to respond to a WMD event? The answer is we are not," said International Association of Fire Chiefs President Randy Bruegman. The chief had two points to make in light of the survey responses.

It CAN Happen Here

"Number one, don't ever say 'It can't happen here.' That provides a level of complacency that we in the fire service can't accept anymore," he said. "The second point, is that we can do a lot without the federal government giving us money. Don't wait for the federal government to bail us out."

Almost three quarters of the survey responses came from firefighters in rural to modest-sized communities, which may explain why so many say they do not have the resources to respond to a WMD incident. Only 644 responses, or 23 percent, came from firefighters in large or urban/metropolitan communities. More than half came from the East Coast, about a quarter from the Midwest and 12 percent from the West Coast.

But even among the departments in the larger cities, only about a third responded that there was a greater than 50 percent chance of their community being targeted by a terrorist attack.

For firefighters who said they were from mid-size communities and smaller, that number drops to just six percent. And 64 percent of smaller community firefighters said there was a less than 10 percent chance their community could be called upon to deal with a terrorist or WMD incident.

Bruegman says even small communities need to do what they can to prepare for a WMD incident. Just because the attacks on 9/11 occurred in New York and Washington D.C. doesn't mean a small community won't be next.

"The reality is if 70-90 percent don't think they're at risk, they never will get ready," he said. "I think we need to change that philosophy."

Schaitberger had the same message for small and rural communities.

"Certainly, there is the sense that the greatest risk will be found in cities like Washington and New York," he said. "They were targets of terrorism before and very well could be targets again. But we can't forget that we have also seen terrorism occur in Oklahoma City. We can't forget that many of our sensitive and strategic military bases are located in areas that could be classified as suburban or even rural. We must work to prepare every fire department in every location with appreciable population to respond to the aftermath of a terrorist attack. It is a tall order, but it is one we must accomplish."

Preparation With or Without Funding

Bruegman agreed that as of this time, the federal government has not come through with the money to help departments prepare. "The reality is that this has taken longer than anyone anticipated," he said. However, things are moving forward, as $600 million was just approved for grants to help first responders prepare for terrorism, in addition to the money allocated for the FIRE Act grants.

The chief also stressed that departments can take steps to prepare prior to receiving money from the federal government, such as determining what the vulnerable targets might be in their region and arranging for a community emergency response team.

As it stands, less than half of the survey respondents said their fire departments have a plan in place, or are working on a plan, for staffing and coordination in the event of a terrorist attack. And only 13 percent of respondents said their department has a standard procedure it follows in response to a change in the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS).

Twenty-eight percent said yes, their state and/or local emergency managers have implemented programs within the community to educate residents about how to prepare for a disaster, including a terrorist attack. The rest of the respondents did not know or said no.

Also, only a handful of respondents, 9 percent, said the agencies within a 30-mile radius could handle as many as 1,000 patients in the first hours of a mass casualty incident.

Bruegman said this is probably accurate, but added that the rescuers are thinking about responding to patients the way they normally do on a day to day basis. "When a situation like that happens, it changes the way we do business," he said.

Schaitberger said he sees the greatest needs in the fire service, as far as terrorism is concerned, as training, equipment, and staffing.

"The war in Iraq will be fought on two fronts - abroad and here at home. Our government is working to make sure that our military has the training, equipment, and appropriate staffing to accomplish their mission, and rightfully so. It is also the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that our first
responders have the resources they need to combat terrorism here on
American soil," he said.

Counting On First Responders

According to the results of the survey there may be another looming issue for fire departments to address where terrorism is concerned. Some first responders may choose not to respond, especially if they will be facing Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear or High-Yield Explosive (CBRNE) Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The question on the survey asked, "If your department's career off-duty/volunteer firefighters and emergency medical workers (including yourself) were called to duty in the event of a terrorist attack NOT involving known CBRNE weapons, how many do you expect would report rather than being with their families or evacuating themselves? "

Fifty-two percent said they would expect less than half of their first responders to respond. Only six percent believe all would respond.

Fewer responders are expected for an attack THAT DOES involve known CBRNE weapons. In this case, seventy percent said they would expect less than half of their responders, and only three percent believe all would respond.

The vast majority said they would not fault a first responder who doesn't report in favor of spending time with his family or evacuating during a CBRNE incident. Less than half said they have their own contact and response plan, or are developing a plan, for their family in the event of a terrorist attack.

"I guess I'm surprised by the response," Bruegman said. But despite these survey results, he doesn't believe turn out would be a problem. As 9/11 unfolded in New York for example, first responders poured in from around the city and the country.

What Bruegman hears from people is "I'm gonna take care of my family but I'm gonna be there," he said.

"I think the majority of people will show up. They have a commitment to their community, their organization, the people they serve with. That relationship will draw them. That's what firefighters do," he said.

Detecting A CBRNE/WMD Incident

Survey answers were mixed on several topics, such as what equipment firefighters think their department should have to respond more effectively to a terrorism incident. The top answer was detection equipment, followed by training in CBRNE response, and then personal protective gear.

More than half of those who responded said their officers do NOT have the appropriate level of training on a first response unit to detect whether an incident involves CBRNE Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Answers were divided on whether first response units should be equipped with the devices necessary to tell whether an incident involves WMD/CBRNE. Forty-one percent, or 1147 people, said "NO, Await HazMat Team Before Proceeding In," while 59 percent, 1653 people, said "YES, We Can't Wait for Trained HazMat Personnel to Make That Determination."

Bruegman recommends that units carry cost-effective detection devices that turn colors based on certain chemicals, which can help tremendously even if they can't afford full scale chemical detection monitors. In addition, units should be equipped with respiratory protection and appropriate medical drugs.

"The reality is we may find ourselves in a situation, three, five, 10 minutes in when we realize we have a chemical or biological incident," Bruegman said. He said responders need to start thinking about why an incident is occurring, and whether it could have been purposely caused by a person.

"We need to increase our level of paranoia, our level of security mind set, just a little bit," he said.

Coordination and Communication

Sixty-six percent of respondents said they are satisfied with the level of cooperation and communication they have with their local law enforcement and area public safety agencies.

Responses indicate that there is a good level of communication and interagency cooperation in place and expected in the event of an attack. Seventy-four percent said that they do have a good means of communication and information flow in place with their local law enforcement agency.

Seventy percent said they feel comfortable that their chief officers/command staff understand the unified command system and are willing to share power and responsibility with law enforcement and other local, state and Federal agencies in the event of a mass casualty or major response.

Bruegman called for the Department of Homeland Security to take the lead on creating a national response plan to specify exactly who will show up and do what, and how coordination will work from the local to federal level, in the event of a terrorist attack. He estimates we are still a year or two away from implementing such a plan.

Greatest Concerns

The question,"What would be the hardest thing for you personally to deal with if you were a first responder to a terrorist attack?" brought the top answer "Knowing We May Not Be Prepared," followed by "Fear of the Unknown."

"I think those are right on," Bruegman said. "How do I determine what I'm responding into, then what do I do?"

Bruegman hopes we can start using technology to monitor structures like subway systems and some buildings so that if a chemical is released, it is immediately detected and reported to first responders. That way responders would know what they are heading into. Right now, police and firefighters are "basically guinea pigs," the chief said.

In the meantime, Bruegman said fire departments just have to do what they can to prepare with their available resources. "The expectation of the community is that we're going to respond and do our best to effect a positive outcome," the chief said. "We can't say we didn't have the money so we weren't ready."

"Our firefighters will be safer for doing that and for me, that's what it's all about."

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