Mar 23, 2003 By Patty Shultz 5 min read

With the launching of war in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has placed the nation on high alert to the threat of retaliation by terrorist organizations. For months, local agencies have formulated plans to be initiated should an attack take place, but there are varying degrees of preparedness, according to those in charge of these preparations.

Bob Full, chief of Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services and chairman of Region 13 Working Group, an emergency response team composed of the 13 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania and the City of Pittsburgh, said Fayette County first responders are “ready to go” should the area experience a disaster or terrorist attack.

“They will keep you safe,” Full said of the county HAZMAT and 911 emergency services groups. “And, if need be, (Region 13) will be there to back them up.”

Response to a terrorist attack requires the assessment of a myriad of factors, said Full, including the mindset of those who would launch such an attack.

“First off, you have to consider the nature of the individuals,” he said.

“Our thought patterns do not include bringing pain, death and suffering to other people. We’re a society that (is) considered to be free-spirited and friendly.

“So, the challenge to us, as emergency planners, is that we have to take ourselves out of our own climate that we typically use to plan for recovering from accidents that have occurred and acts of Mother Nature. Now we have to plan,

prepare and train for the most dastardly deeds people can think of doing.”

The events of Sept 11, 2001, laid the groundwork for their training and preparation, said Full.

“Whatever will occur will certainly have a tremendous impact, it will have massive casualties, it will be resource intensive and it will be a phenomenal expense to manpower and equipment,” he said.

Full said another variable is the type of threats that could be faced in an attack, including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Where the attack could take place also is a concern to those who will be the first to the scene.

“What we’ve tried to do as a regional team is to look at the things that have taken place around the world and what we have in our region that could potentially be a target of a terrorist organization,” said Full.

The team has catalogued industrial plants, research facilities, transportation networks, education institutions, special demographic areas and gathering places within the confines of the 13-county region to note their susceptibility to an attack.

“There is no historical perspective to what we are doing here,” said Full. “What we may be called to do will be documented in textbooks for future use, if this happens again.

“We’re so good with dealing with natural disasters, the flash flooding, severe storms and winter blizzards. We have a proven track record in our dealing with utility outages, fuel spills and accidental releases (of chemicals), bad accidents or train derailments.

“It is a whole new environment. You’re up against people who sit all day in a cave and think of the worst things they can do to people. It’s hard to come up with a plan to deal with that,” Full added.

The emergency response teams from the respective 13 counties have been working to coordinate efforts should an attack take place. The purchase of necessary equipment and training has been a priority, said Full.

“We’re going to be there for one another,” he said. “Terrorism, like any major disaster, knows no political boundaries or biases. …On a moment’s notice, if something happens in Fayette County, we’re going to be there.”

Those who will respond to the first dispatches from the county 911 call center and the sirens from fire and police stations are aware of the potential dangers they could face in the event of an attack.

Connellsville Fire Department Chief Joe Childs said his crew and those police officers on duty at the time of attack will be the first casualties.

“If there was a bioterrorist attack, the first responders would be the first to die. That’s understood,” said Childs. “We wouldn’t immediately know what we were getting into, but that wouldn’t stop us from responding and doing what we are required to do.”

The nearly 30-year veteran of the department said the local fire and police are well trained to handle the everyday occurrences, but countermeasures to the acts of those in the possession of chemical and biological agents that could kill thousands have yet to become part of the training manuals.

Childs said smaller communities with similar bank accounts cannot justify spending the exorbitant amount of money it would cost to outfit the local departments with equipment and training.

“The likelihood of a terrorist attack in Connellsville or Fayette County is small,” he said. “How many suits would you buy if you did invest some money into equipment? Whom would you buy them for?”

Fayette EMS, the county’s largest ambulance service, is putting together a mass casualty mobile unit to respond to any catastrophe throughout its service area, according to Bob Topper, administrative director.

“We have to be prepared on a daily basis for a plane crash, a school bus accident or a building collapse. Those are the types of things that could happen any day,” he said. “Now what we have done is just add terrorist attack to our list.

“Our people our trained in hazardous materials, and they have been advised to look at any terrorist attack as a hazardous materials incident.”

Like emergency personnel in Connellsville, Topper said, Fayette EMS crews have not been outfitted with specialized gear, due to budgetary constraints.

“We know the dangers, but we will be there,” he said.