First Responders Essay

Words: 913
Pages: 4

What makes first responders a potential terrorist target? First, the fire service and emergency medical personnel are integral parts of society and provide a valuable and expected service of safety to the general public. If terrorists attack either of these traditional institutions, it will most certainly cause an overwhelming level of uncertainty and fear among the general public.
Secondly, first responders, whether being fire, police, or EMS, may be attacked responding to the scene simply to delay efforts of rescue and fire suppression. After the initial devastation, terrorists will detonate a secondary explosive device. This will be strategically placed to cause mass causalities to the first responders. This delayed explosion is designed
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One example of a possible cyber-strike is jamming. Jamming is overloading a system so it will not work efficiently if at all. Jamming might be employed after a bombing to incapacitate radios and cell phones in a local area, complicating efforts by emergency responders and exacerbating fear in the civilian population. (The Heritage Foundation, November 24, 2003 )
To further stress first responder capabilities, terrorists may conduct simultaneous or near-simultaneous attacks. Such attacks might be designed not only to create psychological fears, but also to complicate the challenge of providing support to several incidents at the same time, which could quickly overwhelm the capacity of responders.
In addition to the threat of additional or massive attacks, responders will have to deal with the demanding conditions and requirements that will be required of them in responding to any terrorist strike. One major command and control challenge that responders will likely face is the problem of convergence. Convergence is a phenomenon that occurs when people, goods, and services are spontaneously mobilized and sent into a disaster-stricken area. Although convergence may have beneficial effects, like rushing resources to the scene of a crisis, it can also lead to congestion, create confusion, and hinder the delivery of aid, compromise security, and waste scarce resources. (The Heritage Foundation, November 24, 2003