Dirty Bombs, Chemical and Biological Threats
“Separating Fact From Fiction”
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Organizational Resiliency in Times of Crises---Do you have it?
Harvard Business Review-Gary Hamel: “The world is becoming turbulent faster than organizations are becoming resilient”
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BackgroundRecent National Intelligence Estimate Report: “Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland”
July 22, 2007--Meet the Press segment with the Head of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell said that al Qaida is determined to attack the USA with either nuclear, biological or chemical weapons
Recent headlines say that al Qaida is determined to launch a “mass casualty spectacular event” on US soil
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Background
1/2008 Survey Indicates Nuclear Terrorism is Americas
Top Fear---74%
2/1/2008 US Military Not Prepared For Catastrophic
Attack
Domestic Terrorism Threat On Rise---FBI Chief
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Recent Situations
Ricin in Las Vegas Hotel Room---2/29/2008
Radiological Threat in NYC---8/2007
DC Metro Shut Down---8/2007
Colombia’s Leftist Guerrillas Tried to Acquire
Radioactive Material For “Dirty Bombs”---3/2008
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Government InterventionsExtended Terrorism Reinsurance Backup
Bush signed and directed DHS to consolidate Federal Agency Bio-surveillance Data into 1 database---32 billion
Audit Report of 8/2007--- Falling short of objectives, staffing, weak management, not fully defined requirements, not meeting objectives
Bush signed law 8/2007 implementing 9/11 Commission recommendations , Act of 2007 Title IX Called for voluntary certification program for corporate readiness
ERM Risk Rating for non-financial companies
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Purpose of PresentationWorld unaware and therefore largely unprepared for Bioterrorist attacksOnly thing we have to fear is fear itself---FDR--1933Increased knowledge of threats will result in less panic and casualties if an attack occurs Reduce employee concernsProtect your organization from direct or indirect impactPlan for these threats like other threats---earthquake, hurricane, etc.BCM strategy more important than ever
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The Three Most Frequently Mentioned Mass Casualty Threats are:
Nuclear
Chemical
Biological
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Question?
Which of the potential mass casualty threats (Nuclear,
Biological, Chemical) would likely result in the most
casualties?
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Nuclear BombsInitiated by conventional explosivesAchieve critical massUncontrolled chain reaction occursIntense heatShock waveRadiationRadiation fall out
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Dirty Bomb (RDDs)Not a nuclear bomb
Mix of explosives with radioactive material
Weapon of mass disruptionSpreads radioactive material over immediate areaAlpha, beta, gamma radiation
Over 21,000 organizations licensed to use radioactive materialEmergency response actions
Cover nose and mouth, use maskDon’t touch materialMove upwindGo inside and take off outer clothes and seal in a bag, shower
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Chemical ThreatsDefinitions
– Chemical agents are not true gases but rather aerosolized solids or
liquids
– Volatility-ability to evaporate
– Persistence-ability to stay
Preparations
– Special Clothing needed
– Not as effective when delivered by weapons
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Potential Chemical WeaponsG versus V Agents
Nerve Agents– G A Tabun
– G B Sarin
– G D Soman
Blister Agents– HD-Sulfur mustard– HN-Nitrogen mustard– CX-Phosgene Oximine
Choking Agents– CG Phosgene– CI Chlorine– DP Diphosgene– PS Chloropicrin
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Biological Threat AgentsEasy to acquire, synthesize, and use
No reliable and immediate detections systems exist
Covert application
Recognition of clinical symptoms associated with various BW agents is critical
Masks-multi-layered HEPA
No special clothing needed
Biological Threat AgentsAnthraxPlagueCholeraTularemiaSmall PoxRicinViral EncephalitidiesBotulinum Toxin
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What is the difference between a chemical, biological or radiological threat?
Chemical incidents are characterized by rapid onset of medical symptoms (minutes to hours) with easily observed signatures-pungent odor, dead foliage, colored residue, dead insects/animals
Biological incident symptoms require days to weeks and typically have no characteristic signatures, therefore area impact may be large
Radiological incident requires days to weeks to determine, however, explosion may be the first clue
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Indicators of Possible Nuclear, Biological, or Chemical Incident
Dead animals/birds/fish
Lack of insect life
Physical symptoms
Definite pattern of mass casualties
Unexplained odors
Low lying clouds
Geographical illness
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Personal Safety ConsiderationsEvacuate upwind
If outside, cover skin areas, keep windows closed, turn
off A/C, seal windows and doors
Maximize distance from site of suspected material
When clear of contaminated area remove external
apparel and leave outside
Shower thoroughly
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Questions?
Back to our original question---
Which of these potential threats would likely result in the most mass casualties?
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Strategies To Survive a Mass Casualty Threat
Develop a comprehensive BCM strategy which includes both a BCP and a DR PlanPlan for the worst; easy to scale recovery for lesser disastersTrain for realityCommunicate plans in simple termsEducate employees about mass casualty threats and what to do
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Business Continuity Planning (BCP) Must Include:
Provisions for employee and employee family safety
Identification of key Business Processes
Recovery Time and Point Objectives (RTOs, RPOs) for
Key Business Processes
Identified alternate work sites
Emergency communications plan
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Business Continuity Planning (BCP) Must Include:
Alert levels
Disaster scenarios
Allocation of key employees, workspace, critical equipment, and technology to recover key business processes
Ranking of key business processes by Recovery Time and Points Objectives (RTOs, RPOs)
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Next Steps for Your Organization
• Review your organization’s BCP capabilities versus emergency and recovery requirements (RTOs, RPOs)
• Identify and resolve any GAPs that must be mitigated
• Train your employees
• Exercise your BCP
• Update your BCP