FEMA Releases IED Lessons Learned Collection For First Responders
By: Anthony Kimery
04/25/2013 ( 8:30am)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released a collection of lessons learned for first responders related to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
The release comes in response to last week’s terrorist bombings in Boston, which involved IEDs made from pressure cookers. The information can be accessed through the Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS) program, which is available online at LLIS.gov.
The Materials “include a variety of documents, plans, and after action reports that can help emergency managers, law enforcement officers and other responders prepare for, respond to and recover from a terrorist attack or related incident,” FEMA said in a statement.
“These resources can help the whole community safely cope and recover from a terrorism situation before as well as after law enforcement and other responders arrive on the scene," the statement read.
"I think the best application and reason these resources have been released so quickly, is so that others within our field have access to the most relevant and contemporary information possible," said enGenius Consulting Group Emergency Management Analyst Samuel Boyle.
"In what is considerably the most prevalent and likely only successful 'terrorist' attack to occur on United States soil since 9/11, it sits at the front of our minds as we move forward and plan public events and other operations moving forward," said Boyle.
"This case shows the value of crowd sourcing and investigation, the value and integration of social media and the threat posed to domestic security through the rise of 4th and 5th generation warfare concepts," Boyle said. "Lessons to be learned include why an individual under a terrorism advisory for over three years was not arrested or even extensively questioned, and as more information becomes available, it demonstrates the mindset and resources of these individuals who have as far as we can tell right now acted without the formal support in terms of logistics or intelligence from a terrorist cell."
FEMA cites the April 17 Homeland Security Today report, Marathons Globally have been Targets of Terrorism; Incendiary Devices Most Common Terror Weapon in US, Data Shows, that disclosed that data reveals that since Nov. 1994, terrorists have attacked seven marathons around the world, killing at least 14 people. The data was extracted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funded National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) from an analysis of its Global Terrorism Database (GTD).
Citing the data, FEMA said Wednesday that according to START's database, since November 1994, seven marathons around the world have been targets of terrorist attacks.
Although catastrophic events, such as the attacks of 9/11, can demonstrate how deadly terrorists can be, START indicates that “data shows that most terrorist attacks do not inflict a large number of casualties (injuries and fatalities)." According to the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), the most common weapon used in the 207 terrorist attacks in the United States from 2001 to 2011 were incendiary devices and explosives.”
FEMA cited Homeland Security Today’s report in two footnotes.
“On Monday, April 15, 2013,” FEMA said on its new Boston Marathon Explosions website that “two explosions occurred at the Boston Marathon approximately four hours after the start of the race. The first explosion occurred at approximately 2:50 pm ET, just before the finish line while the second device went off ten seconds after the first. According to authorities, the low-grade explosive materials for the two bombs were placed in two pressure cookers with shrapnel (nails, shards of metal, bolts, etc.) to make them more lethal. The two devices had been placed approximately 550 feet apart.”
On its marathon bombing website, FEMA also has provided “resources [that] include a variety of documents, plans and after action reports that can help emergency managers, law enforcement officers and other responders prepare for, respond to and recover from a terrorist attack or related incident. Further, these resources can help the whole community safely cope and recover from a terrorism situation before as well as after law enforcement and other responders arrive on the scene.”
These resources have been categorized as follows, and a few require access only by individuals authorized to receive For Official Use Only (FOUO) intelligence.
Among the resources that FEMA’s LLIS.gov Boston Marathon Bombing page have made available include:
Boston, MA- Special Events Planning
The 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC) was held in Boston, Massachusetts from July 26-29. In preparation for the DNC, Boston Emergency Medical Services (EMS) coordinated the development of a Medical Consequence Management Plan to cover all medical and health aspects of DNC security.
This presentation was given at the Ready!/GovSec/USLAW 2005 Conference and Expo in Washington, DC. The presentation focuses on planning, EMS operations, road closures and EV lanes, public health surveillance, MCI planning, pharmaceutical support, and lessons learned from the event.
Resources Related to Explosive Devices/Improvised Explosive Devices
This document describes the varying threat levels for improvised explosive devices and the building and evacuation distances for each.
- Protective Measures for Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) at Mass Gatherings. December 2010 -- FOUO
This document provides protective measures as recommendations for private sector partners to enhance the security of their facilities; protective measures are not prescriptive.
This report discusses four key components effective medical response: the objective of response; the typical injury pattern; triage; and the delivery of care. Particular attention is given to the triage process because of its importance to the overall response and the array of differing opinions on how, where, and by whom it should be completed.
In addition to these vital and important resources, FEMA’s LLIS.gov also have released FEMA’s National Level Exercise (NLE) 2012 Quick Look report.
Lastly, the FEMA Boston Marathon Bombing website includes the 2013 Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) with revised 2013 templates that are located on the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program website.
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