Domestic preparedness: the grand illusion

The problems posed by terrorism to not only the emergency response community, but to national security at large can be overwhelming. Adoption of what would be considered prudent and effective business practices by implementing a disciplined and effectively structured central strategy cannot be overencouraged. The emerging strategy must take into account the existing emergency response infrastructures and build upon existing capacity in an effort to achieve greater readiness. This technique is no different than the training and issuance of radiological response equipment to emergency responders in the 1950s by the then Civil Defense Agency. The training that is offered, especially to EMS providers, needs to be institutionalized to ensure that our peers, on a regular basis, revisit curriculum content. Incorporating a training module within the existing DOT NHTSA initial and refresher EMT and paramedic educational curricula could easily achieve this goal. Implementing fiscal support to the local emergency response agencies in a sustainable manner is a must. The costs associated with training, equipping and servicing the equipment and medication stores are budget-busters. This is a threat to national security and, as such, the federal government needs to rise to the challenge of supporting the local response organizations that will meet this threat head-on during the aftermath of an attack. As previously mentioned, when the U.S. faced its last large national security threat (Soviet nuclear missiles), we witnessed the materialization of a comprehensive agenda that provided most of the attributes we desire with the contemporary problem of terrorism. There is no single solution to the problem of terrorism. In fact, it will take many individuals and functional areas to come together and stop viewing the threat as a "cash cow." The improved response capacity for acts of terrorism will have an inevitable "spillover benefit" of better trained and equipped emergency responders for everyday emergencies; which will inevitably be our "payday."