Terrorism - Are You Ready?

 ISIS, Hamas, Lone Wolf's, Mexican Drug Lords, Etc all have one thing in common, their dislike of the United States, it's government but more importantly, you and your families. A few years ago, while watching my son play with other kids on the playground, I struck up a conversation with an older gentleman watching his grandson interact with mine. We discussed how cute the kids were and how well they got along. Within a few moments, his facial expression changed and I could see he was disturbed about something. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he was from Israel and said to me "Isn't it amazing that some people in this world would stop at nothing to kill those two children playing together, just so they would not grow up to be good and patriotic American's. This my friends is what you, myself, our families and our communities face today, right now.

 We know full well, from our experiences of 9/11/01, Oklahoma City, the Fort Hood shootings, the Newtown shootings, the cinema shootings in Colorado and many, many more, that the United States is no longer immune to terrorism. No longer can we sit back and watch events unfold in other countries and shake our heads in shock and horror. It is now at our front door step. ISIS, as of this writing, is making one to three million dollars a day, selling oil on the black market, imagine that, one to three million dollars a day! It took Osama Bin Laden, millions of his own money and years of preparation for 9/11 and he brought down the two biggest buildings in New York City and with them, thousands of people and first responders, who to this day, are still dying of 9/11 related cancers, 343 and counting. Our boarders are not secure, allowing for an untold amount of people to cross into the country unchecked and undocumented. Who is coming across? What kind of threat do they pose? Has your department or personnel been advised of any possible threats? What to look for? How to react? And more importantly, how to protect yourself from these threats? Is your department ready? Are you?

Recently, I had a situation I was involved with here in New Hampshire with a potential Active Shooter incident in the town I serve as Assistant Chief. South Hampton is only a few miles from Brentwood, NH, the town where police officer Steven Arkell was gunned down in cold blood while answering a domestic dispute call. The house was set on fire by the suspect and we all watched on t.v. as the house exploded. South Hampton, only two weeks later, experienced an incident where a well known subject (well known to the local PD) after being questioned at his home, stole a police cruiser and tried running down two police officers, then ran into the woods. For the first hour, no one from my department was even aware of the situation. It was only when the deputy chief of the town next to us was contacted by their PD of the situation that we were informed. The scene become very confusing, many PD's self deployed, no one could tell myself or the other Assistant Chief who was in charge. Some FD's started self deploying even though they were not called. Command Posts started showing up, personnel from everywhere were walking right into the area. The other chief and myself later found out that our command post was within sight of where PD believed the shooter to be.

 As the department training officer, I started looking around, scouring the country asking questions about Terrorism and Active Shooter training, the basic equipment a fire department might need in these kinds of situations. No one could answer the most simple question, where do I find the needed training. I was continuously told to check with FEMA, which I did. FEMA had some basic courses on terrorism. I checked with other agencies on Active Shooter, I was told there were classes for PD but nothing for Fire/EMS. I continued to ask around the country, who is preparing first responders for the eventual terrorist attack or the active shooter situation? Are our first responders in the smaller communities ready for such events and if not, what is the outcome for these communities and its citizens? After checking around the New England area, the answer I continuously received was "no we are not ready at all" Thirteen years after 9/11 and our firefighters and EMS are still not ready for  a terrorist attack. We certainly see drills once in a while in the larger cities but what about the smaller communities who are going to possibly face the same situation or end up responding mutual aid to the larger cities when all goes to hell? Are your people ready for the next attack that  we have been told over and over again is coming? And if not, where are you and your department going to get this needed training?

 It boggles the mind, with everything that is going on in this world today, the training needed to prepare first responders to face a some kind of terrorist attack is still not available on a large scale. I call on Washington, state authorities and local communities to take action, a strong lead and a sound voice on preparing our first responders for what will eventually come. Fire & EMS Instructors & Training Officers around the country should be demanding this kind of training to prepare their people, their departments and their communities for what could and will turn out to be disastrous turn of events. Does your department, as it stands now, have the training or the trained personnel it needs for not only a terrorist attack but an Active Shooter situation say involving your high school? Are your people prepared for what they will face when they arrive on scene? Are they ready for after the incident, when they go home and face their families and loved ones? Does your community have the resources its going to need for this type of situation and I am not talking about the four wheel Gators you got from a grant. Do you have enough body bags, medical equipment, and the personnel you can count on and know are going to show up? Are your people ready and trained for a car bombing, Anthrax incident, an MCI shooting or a CBRNE attack? If not, where and how are you going to get them trained? Great question!

Please let me know your thoughts, do you agree or disagree, I would be very interested in hearing from you all who have an opinion one way or another. Remember, there is no wrong answers, just a lack of knowledge the we all must overcome and soon.

Mark Munroe