Domestic Terrorism

Many people today agree: It is not whether a major chemical or biological terrorist event will occur here on American soil, but when. Firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel, will be the first to respond in the event of such an act of terrorism. As with any form of terrorism, preparation, training, and access to the appropriate tools can help mitigate the hazard in a short period of time. For first responders, these pieces of equipment are critical for both protecting personnel and at the sametime dealing with the threat at hand.

Although chemical and biological agents can be dispersed though food and water supplies, often referred to as bio-contamination, the most common and most likely form of distribution in an act of terrorism is aerosolized dispersion, the distribution of airborne contaminants. When emergency and rescue personnel respond to the scene to aid victims of a chemical or biological attack, they need to protect themselves. At a minimum, emergency and rescue personnel should have detection equipment, respiratory protection and protective clothing to prevent dermal contamination against the wide and ever expanding spectrum of chemical and biological threats. The availability of technology and the methods used to detect and identify the type of contaminant present differ greatly between chemical and biological agents. The validity of a biological agent can be detected by using Smart Tickets, newly developed detection system that function like an early pregnancy test. False positives are possible from a wide range of naturally occurring bacteria, which makes it very important to gather samples for culture growth and analysis by a medical laboratory. In the event of a chemical warfare agents, similar detection papers (e.g., M9, M8, ect.) are available, as are hand held detection equipment, such as the AP2C Chemical Agent Detector Kit from Mine safety Appliances Company (MSA). This device detects chemical warfare agents down to the parts per trillion range by using flame photometry. Chemical detector tubes, which operate by the use of a hand held sampling pump, offer a low cost, but high performance alternative. To protect against respiratory inhalation, emergency and rescue personnel that are responding to an unknown contaminant should be equipped with a self - contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Secondary responders, those working at a safe distance from the threat or at a lower known contamination level, should be equipped with gas masks manufactured from a non-permeable material. The gas masks should be outfitted with canisters that meet the requirements for effective protection against chemical warfare agents. The proper preparation for domestic terrorism, including equipment, training and procedures, can mean the difference between success and failure, victory or failure, victory or disaster, lives saved and lives lost.

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