CBRN and Hazmat Incidents at Major Public Events: Planning and Response

CHAPTER 2

Differing Perspectives and Philosophies on CBRN/HAZMAT Planning and Response

One of the fundamental problems posed by large public events is that the security and emergency-preparedness efforts are large enough to require support from many types of agencies and providers. The CBRN and HAZMAT response effort could require work by police, fire, medical, military, intelligence, and civil-protection personnel, not to mention local government, private security contractors, private-property owners and managers, environmental agencies, and others. The different types of planners and responders who may be involved in the major-event business are going to have perspectives drawn from numerous different philosophies of response to CBRN threats. Different philosophical approaches have grown up organically in different disciplines in different countries. As I discussed a few pages earlier, I worked for many years at the confluence of these differing schools of thought, and I saw that this confluence is fertile ground for both conflict and synergy. In order to craft a good body of working practices for use in protecting major events, we must examine the different schools of thought, pick what is useful to the mission, and discard the rest.

Before I launch into detailed discussions of planning and preparedness, we should discuss the various perspectives of the different types of response disciplines. Firefighters, soldiers, police, scientists, and medics need to work together to support ...