Unit 5 Essay - Redo

Oakland Terrorist Attack Management Draft

Justin Caillouet

Columbia Southern University

Oakland Terrorist Attack Management Draft

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to determine the appropriate steps needed in the effective

management of emergency services during and after a terrorist attack. The United States is a

major target for terrorist attacks since the September 9/11 attacks. Thus, all emergency services

across the country need to be aptly prepared to handle a terrorist incident and reduce the potential

mortality rates because of such and other similar incidences. This paper will provide a guide to

the steps that should be followed in case of a terrorist attack as pertains to the details of the case

study.

Summary of Scenario

The terrorist group BC has organized a large-scale terrorist attack on American soil. The target

of the attack is at the coliseum, which is located in Oakland, California. The terrorist attack takes

place on August 18 during a home game for the Oakland Athletics. There are more than 35000

spectators and 5000 players in the coliseum on this day. Furthermore, there are hundreds of

coliseum employees, support staff, and staff members in the grounds. In total, there are

approximately 40,000 people in an area that spans approximately 157 acres.

R i c h a rd R e m p o : N e e d s a r u n n i n g h e a d a n d p a g e n u m b e r s

R i c h a rd R e m p o : N e e d s a c ove r p a g e a s p e r A PA

R i c h a rd R e m p o : I n d e n t f i r s t l i n e o f e a c h p a ra g ra p h a s p e r A PA

R i c h a rd R e m p o : 1 8 t h

R i c h a rd R e m p o : 3 5 , 0 0 0

The attack occurs during the third inning of the game. The terrorists load nineteen small boats

with explosives, with each boat left tied to each of the nineteen bridges that connect the coliseum

to the city of Oakland. The terrorists remotely detonate the bombs once they enter the parking lot

of the coliseum. An additional twenty-four terrorists enter the parking lot using U-Haul trucks.

They make their way in through the North Bridge Gate, which was partially destroyed by the

bombs. There are now about 153 terrorists in the parking lot of the coliseum. They use cars to

block off the entrance to the North Bridge. The terrorists also burnt several cars in the coliseum

to block aerial surveillance by law enforcement agencies. Any civilian, security guard, or law

enforcement official seen in the parking lot is shot down immediately. The coliseum is

completely barricaded and the emergency services team has to ensure that as many people

survive the incident.

Terrorist Attack Management

Having been put in charge of all fire department assets, EMS, and the coordination between the

hospitals and the USNS comfort, it is my prerogative to ensure that the mortality rate remains

low. This means that I have to conduct a seamless rescue operation that seeks to save as many

lives as possible without endangering the lives of others including the rescue teams.

There are a number of considerations I have to make to ensure that the rescue operation is as

effective as possible. For starters, I will have to determine where I will set up the EMS teams so

that they can aid those who have escaped. (1) We have managed to set up a 180- degree

perimeter around the coliseum. The perimeter will allow us to set up EMS teams as close to the

waterway as possible. A few hundred survivors have been able to escape through this waterway

over the past two days. Once the EMS teams are set up near this waterway, they will be able to

rescue the few survivors escaping. The perimeter will enable us to provide cover for the EMS

R i c h a rd R e m p o : O n w h a t s i d e w i l l t h e p e r i m e te r b e ?

teams as they attempt to rescue the swimming survivors. It is critical that the EMS teams

maintain a safe distance from the hot zone to avoid their capture or worse, their deaths.

(2) Triage will be performed on the survivors to determine who among them has the most severe

injuries. Those with more severe injuries will be taken to the nearest hospital immediately

(Hogan, Waeckerle, Dire, and Lillibridge, 1999) while those with less severe injuries will be

taken care of at a nearby tent where qualified medical practitioners are awaiting to assess them

and handle their injuries. These individuals should be given quick first aid (Raiter, Farfel,

Lehavi, Goren, Shamiss, Priel, Koren, Davidson, Schwartz, Goldberg, & Bardayan, 2008) and

assessment to determine whether their non-serious injuries have the potential to

become concerns.

According to Aylwin, Konig, Brennan, Shirley, Davies, Walsh, & Brohi (2007), over-triage

should be avoided at all costs. This is because it is a mis-use of precious time that could be used

in saving the lives of many others. Effective triage at the scene of the incident will help contain

the surge capacities in the nearby hospitals. Investigations should be kept to a minimum to allow

for faster transference of severely injured patients to the nearest hospitals.

(3) The media presence might be a hindrance to the effective management of the rescue team.

Not only are the media outlets creating chaos on the scene because of their numbers, but they

also run the risk of reporting crucial information about the rescue mission and the placements of

law enforcement officials. The terrorists, who are obviously watching television, might pick out

essential information that they can use to their advantage, which might lead to a

continued standoff and the loss of more lives.

The members of the media will be assigned a position slightly farther out from where the

emergency teams have set up. This will ensure that the media does not have any access to

R i c h a rd R e m p o : W h a t t r i a g e s y s te m ? W h e re w i l l t h i s b e c o n d u c te d ?

R i c h a rd R e m p o : H o w w i l l t h e y b e t ra n s p o r te d ? H o w a n d w h o w i l l c o o rd i n a te m e d i c a l ? W h a t h o s p i t a l s a n d t ra u m a c e n te r s ?

material that may jeopardize the rescue mission such as any escape routes or the plans the

emergency services have formulated in their attempt to rescue more survivors. Furthermore,

the communications director will be assigned to disperse information to the members of the

press. This will guarantee that the media reports only what we want to become public news.

The media can also be used to our advantage. Since the terrorists are watching television to find

clues about our operations, we can communicate with them using the media reporters. We can

disseminate information through the media to the terrorists and we would be assured that they

have received the information. Negotiations for the safe release of the victims inside the

coliseum can begin using the media. The terrorists can also use the media to explain to us their

demands as we negotiate for the safe release of the hostages.

(4) Entry into the coliseum requires that the fire fighters break a huge hole into the coliseum. It

would have been easier to use explosives in order to gain entry, but the explosion might injure

the victims inside the coliseum. To avoid this, the firefighters will use a number of hydraulic and

extrication equipment to drill through the entrance of the coliseum. The tools mentioned will

ensure that the terrorists are not alerted by the impending entry of the rescue workers and law

enforcement officials. A handful of SWAT members will be assigned to protect the fire fighters

who are drilling the hole. They are the security assets that will guarantee the safety of the fire

fighters as they breach the coliseum walls.

(5) The terrorists set several cars that were in the parking lot ablaze in order to deter law

enforcement and rescue crews from surveilling and entering the coliseum. The fire fighters will

have to extinguish the fires in order to be able to breach the coliseum. Extinguishing the fires

will also provide the law enforcement agencies with visibility over the coliseum so that they can

assess the situation from an aerial view as well as provide tactical support to the crews on

R i c h a rd R e m p o : W i l l yo u a l l o w m e d i a to f l y ove r t h e s c e n e ?

R i c h a rd R e m p o : D o n o t n u m b e r. T h i s i s n o t a n o u t l i n e . R i c h a rd R e m p o : H o w w i l l t h i s e q u i p m e n t a n d a p p a ra t u s g e t to t h e s c e n e w h e n a l l o f t h e b r i d g e s a re o u t ? R i c h a rd R e m p o : G i ve d e t a i l s ? W h a t to o l s ? T h i s wa l l i s 4 f t o f s te e l re i n fo rc e d c o n c re te .

R i c h a rd R e m p o : A h a n d f u l ? E x p l a i n h o w m a n y a n d h o w yo u w o u l d u s e t h e m fo r s e c u r i t y

R i c h a rd R e m p o : G i ve s p e c i f i c s . W i l l t h e re b e S WAT p rov i d i n g ove r wa tc h ? H o w m a n y a p p a ra t u s ? F i re ex t i g u i s h e r s w o n ' t s u f f i c e .

the ground. For these reasons, the firefighters will use fire extinguishers to extinguish the flames

from the burning cars.

(6) It is of the utmost importance that emergency medical services are deployed inside the

coliseum as soon as it is safe to do so. The EMS will be able to provide urgent medical services

to those who are critically injured inside the coliseum. I will send the EMS teams in with the

SWAT team but in the second wave after the latter has taken control of the coliseum from the

terrorists. For this reason, the SWAT teams will have to move in to neutralize the threat before

the EMS can enter and take care of the injured.

The reasoning behind this strategy is to allow the SWAT teams to undertake their duty without

having to worry about taking care of the EMS crews. They will be more focused at neutralizing

the threat when they do not have to worry about additional casualties. It also reduces the number

of potential hostages that the terrorists may use as leverage to escape (Perry & Lindell, 2003).

The EMS teams will be on standby and will enter the premises once the SWAT teams give out

the order for them to come in.

References

Aylwin, C.J. Konig, T.C., Brennan, N.W., Shirley, P.J., Davies, G., Walsh, M.S., & Brohi,

K. (2007). Reduction in critical mortality in urban mass casualty incidents: analysis of

triage, surge, and resource use after the London bombings on July 7, 2005. The Lancet, 368

(9554), 2219-2225.

Hogan, D. E., Waeckerle, J. F., Dire, D. J., & Lillibridge, S. R. (1999). Emergency

department impact of the Oklahoma City terrorist bombing. Annals of emergency

medicine, 34(2), 160-167

R i c h a rd R e m p o : W i l l yo u u s e E M S , p a ra m e d i c s , o r N a t i o n a l G u a rd M e d i c s ?

R i c h a rd R e m p o : N e e d s a s e p a ra te re fe re n c e p a g e .

Perry, R. W., & Lindell, M. K. (2003). Preparedness for emergency response: guidelines

for the emergency planning process. Disasters, 27(4), 336-350

Raiter, Y., Farfel, A., Lehavi, O., Goren, O.B., Shamiss, A., Priel, Z., Koren, I., Davidson,

B., Schwartz, D., Goldberg, A., Bardayan, Y. (2008). Emerg Med J, 25 (4): 225-229