On September 11 2001, Al Qaeda terrorists coordinated attacks of the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. They hijacked four commercial planes and intentionally crushed them on the World Trade Centre. Approximately 3000 victims died in that attack including responders from the police department, Ports Authority Police and fire fighters. The majority of casualties that died were civilians from at least 70 nationalities. In addition to the deaths that occurred during the attack, others continued to die due to the infections contracted due to the attack. Other buildings adjacent were also damaged from the attack

According to “The World Trade Centre Story” the events occurring after the September eleventh bombing of the United States World Trade Centre have changed the world in many ways. The Ports Authority Police are unique in their law enforcement because they are trained on the basic skills of maintaining law and order, responding to emergency situations and fire fighting. During the events occurring on September eleventh, the Ports Authority Police felt that it was their responsibility to send as many officers as they could to initiate the rescue operations. The officers present could view the inferno while still in the bus and were eager to get to the scene for the rescue mission. The fire department also deployed many fire fighters to the scene including those who were off-duty. The New York Police Department sent their police personnel including the Emergency Service Unit.

There was a lot of confusion at the site of attack since the New York Police Department, Ports Authority Police Department and the New York Fire Department were all at the site eager to do the same thing- rescue victims. Their efforts were not coordinated and they all searched for casualties in vain. The information gathered by each by each department was not shared to the other department. There was a lack of communication among between the three departments. Before the building collapsed after burning for approximately 56 minutes, police commanders instructed all the police officers to evacuate the building terminating the rescue operations. This message was not passed to the other departments present in the rescue operation and this was the reason why so many officers from the Ports Authority Department and the Fire Department lost their lives. After the collapse of the first tower, the Fire Department send warning to all fire fighters to evacuate the building, but not all of them were able to receive the message due to technical errors.

The hospital which is a first response was involved in providing fist aid to the injured and taking them to the hospital using their ambulances. The hospitals in New York were not well staffed to meet such kinds of emergency crises. With the many number of people at the scene all with the aim of rescuing casualties, it was impossible for the hospital ambulances to access those who were critically injured. Even after gaining access, they still could not make their way to the hospital in a timely manner. This led to the death of many rescued casualties especially those with severe injuries.

Prior to the terrorist attack of the Trade World Centre and the Pentagon, there was no specific agent given the mandate to deal with emergency situation that arise after a CRBNE attack. The United States should have learned a lesson from the attacks in Tokyo and Oklahoma that involved weapons of mass destruction. After the incidence of September eleventh, Americans saw it necessary to capitalize on disaster management for this kind of attacks (Carey, 2010). Homeland security has enhanced the emergencies response for CRBNE attacks based on the incidence of September eleventh.

The consequences of CBRN may stretch a country’s capabilities to the maximum. It is the responsibility of the government to put resources in place and provide the necessary training to mitigate consequences of CBRN attacks. The first step is recognizing the possibility of occurrence of such an attack. Information should be circulated to the necessary responders so as to initiate a response plan. The scene of the attack should be well protected and isolated to prevent the further spread of the lethal substance (Brown, 2005). Only those involved in the response are allowed in the scene and should be in protective gear to prevent secondary contamination. Saving lives should be the top priority for all the response agencies. Timely warnings and evacuations should also be provided to prevent further contamination. In addition, specialist support should be incorporated so as to know how best to deal with the contamination.

The National Response Framework provides a guide on how the different organization both governmental and non-governmental should respond in the event of a hazard. Key responsibilities and coordination is emphasized to ensure that all organizations work together for an efficient rescue operation. Practices for management of disasters both ranging from local to international disasters are specified by the National Response Framework. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is an organization put in place to handle any forms of disasters. The key issue that is stressed by this organization is preparedness of the responders and provision of training to mitigate consequences of any attack whether chemical biological or just natural disasters. The responders should also have the capability of responding in the shortest time possible conveying the relevant information to all the agencies involved. Management issues are also very crucial. They should be established prior to the incident, during and after the attack (Brown, 2005).

References

Carey, T. (2010). “DECON and CBRNE Treatment of the Masses: Can We be that Ready?” The Klaxon.

 

Bruno, A. “The World Trade Centre Story.” Trutv.

 

Brown, C. (2005). “Backbone of NIMS.” The Chief. Retrieved on June, 1 from http://firechief.com/preparedness/firefighting_backbone_nims060105/

 

 

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