Emergency Management's Role in a Terrorist Attack

While a terrorist attack has law enforcement in the lead and the fire service and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in support of law enforcement, emergency management may also have a role to play. It may not be immediately evident to law enforcement personnel, so having the conversation now before an event with the agencies you will support would be a good idea.

The basic situation might be similar to what we've seen in Paris in the last two weeks:

• A mass casualty event
• Foreign nationals involved as victims
• Significant police activity during the immediate response and a long-term investigation at the scene of an incident(s)
• Evidence searches might be required
• Mutual aid from multiple police/fire/EMS agencies
• Mortuary mutual aid required
• A mix of federal/state/local responders and elected officials
• International media attention and a long-term public information requirement
• Management of utilities like electricity and water

Here are some possible roles you can play to assist first responders and your broader community. Let's be clear, emergency management's role is not on scene, unless a single liaison is needed to the main command post.

• Activate the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and staff it with appropriate agency and nonprofit representatives from selected agencies. For instance, mass transit will likely be impacted and the best way for that function and others to stay informed is via a single point of coordination -- your EOC with law enforcement providing situational updates as they become available via their liaison at the EOC.
• The business community will need an information source for what to tell their employees and to make their business operational decisions. The EOC can perform this mission. They want an information source from government and not have to get it only from the commercial media.
• Scores if not hundreds of responders will be "on scene" for days. They need life support systems to sustain them while in the field. At a minimum this will include sanitation and feeding/water.
• Additional cellular communications assets may be needed on scene, in the form of a Cell on Wheels (COW).
• In Paris the one assault on an apartment expended 5,000 rounds of ammunition. In a civil unrest situation additional supplies of riot control agents may be needed (this was the case for the WTO riots in Seattle in 1999).
• A structural assessment of the apartment that was assaulted was needed in Paris. The EOC can get the appropriate agency to provide engineers to support.
• Mutual aid may need to be coordinated for a rotation of forces. While immediate mutual aid will happen automatically, a sustained effort will require agency coordination to support the on-scene law enforcement and other discipline requirements (Incident Commander). This is best coordinated from a single location like an EOC.
• An accounting of financial expenditures in the way of goods and services, personnel, overtime and commercial contracts that are executed to support field operations. This is best done at the EOC.
• The public information requirements will be extensive. A single team from a single agency cannot support a sustained, multi-day/week event. Teams of trained PIOs can assist the primary agency's lead PIOs with social media, the production of news releases, the coordination required for news conferences and handling of VIP visit requirements.
• Victim and survivor information collection and notification of next of kin can be extensive. The international aspect of victims, both dead and injured, will require a separate and extensive process and effort that goes way beyond a normal shooting incident.
• A family assistance center will likely be needed for victims. 
• Additional mental health professionals will be needed to help with first responders and others psychologically impacted by the event. These needs can be coordinated at the EOC.
• Elected officials need a single location where they can receive briefings on the incident, provide statements to the media, and also deliberate the decisions needed to be made that may have broader implications, e.g., the closing of schools, suspension of services. While an "on scene" visit can be expected at some point in the incident, you do not want the elected officials interfering with the tactical missions being carried out.

While the above is not an exhaustive list, you can see that achieving an understanding of how you can assist your first responder agencies and take some of the coordination burden off their shoulders to let them concentrate on their primary mission would be very helpful.

And having a conversation with your elected officials, in advance of an incident, and their communications staff will help immeasurably in getting things off on the right foot.  

These events will be chaotic and like in any disaster, confusing at first. Thus, we are trained for an all-hazard approach that can help when your community has their worst nightmare that is not caused by Mother Nature.