The director of the emergency response team's job is to decide how to respond to each scenario. In this exercise, you will play the role of the director of the emergency response team for a major metropolitan area. You will need to make a detailed outline of steps needed to address three situations.
Then, after doing so, decide what action you would take if Scenarios 2 and 3 were to unfold simultaneously. When addressing Scenarios 2 and 3, and because resources are limited, make sure to explain which of the two scenarios takes priority.
Make sure to support your reasoning with information from two or more sources. These sources can range from department policy manuals to information from actual events to information from personal work experience.
You are the director of the disaster response agency for a major metropolitan area. In this capacity, you are responsible for determining response protocols specific to an event whenever a natural disaster or man-made threat to the safety and security of the community presents itself. You are in control of the available resources needed to initiate and sustain the needed response.
And you are entrusted with the authority to proceed without the consent of other community officials when intelligence information warrants immediate action.
Review the scenarios below and write a report that contains your detailed outline of steps needed to address each of these three situations.
Situation 1: Natural disaster involving a Category 5 hurricane
The scenario is as follows:
The initial storm warning predicting the potential strength of the hurricane was issued 48 hours prior to the time it was estimated the storm would reach the city.
Twelve hours after the initial storm warning, the weather service announced that the hurricane had shifted course and would likely miss the city.
Eighteen hours after the initial storm warning, the National Weather Service upgrades the threat indicating the storm was expected to reach Category 5 status and that the hurricane is back on its original course and is likely to strike the city as was originally predicted.
The mayor calls a press conference and orders an immediate evacuation without first consulting you, your office, or other public safety officials.
The National Weather Service verifies the Category 5 status of the hurricane and indicates the storm will reach the city one hour earlier than initially predicted.
Situation 2: A verified report of a pending radiological dispersal device (RDDs) attack
The scenario is as follows:
You begin your day with a notification from the Office of Homeland Security that a terrorist threat involving a radiological dispersal device is likely.
According to intelligence reports, three potentially high casualty areas are considered suitable targets.
The mega mall
The largest hospital in the city
The international airport
In checking with security officers in the target areas you learn that video surveillance is available in two of the target zones, the hospital and the international airport, but video surveillance in the mall is limited to the outer perimeter of the building due to problems with the recently installed software updates that have made all interior cameras useless.
Two hours into the response, a second call from homeland security suggests a fourth target, but a target on a much smaller scale - a faith-based grade school with a student enrollment of just over 200 children.
Situation 3: Suspicious passenger on an airplane and the assigned U.S Federal Air Marshals are missing
The scenario is as follows:
Your city is home to an international airport, and the captain of a flight originating from Athens, Greece, reports a suspicious passenger. A few minutes later, the captain reports flight attendants are unable to locate either of the U.S. Federal Air Marshals assigned the flight.
Shortly after the last radio transmission, the tower lost all radio communication with the passenger jet.
The jet is 2 hours outside of the city and the last radio contact was 30 minutes ago.
Another federal law enforcement agency notifies you that their agency has two agents onboard the flight accompanying a high-profile terrorist who has defected to the U.S. and asked for asylum.
There are 300 passengers on board this flight.
Checking the duty roster, you learn that two of your key supervisors have called in sick.