Decontamination Plan One Major Challenge Facing the Essay

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Decontamination Plan

One major challenge facing the U.S. Homeland security is how to protect the nation's airports. The most striking thing is that the U.S. airports have continued to be vulnerable despite the enhanced security measures that have been implemented therein after the terrorist attack that occurred on September 11, 2002(Lenckus, 2011). In this paper, I will present and explain the plan and strategies for decontaminating two of the nation's airports, namely the Baltimore International Airport (BWI) and the San Francisco International Airport (SIA), in the event of a chemical terrorist attack. To promote a better understanding of the relevance of this decontamination plan, it is worth taking a brief look at why these airports are vulnerable to terrorists' attack.

Why Both Airports Are Vulnerable

Broadly speaking, due to the problem of unauthorized ramp access (a situation that have not changed even after the 9-11 terrorist attack), most international airports in the United States, including the BWI and SIA, are insecure from terrorist attacks. It is sufficient to note here that the ramps of the major international airports have been used by aliens as well as drug smugglers since September 11, 2001 due to the fact that they are wide open to penetration. This calls for a great concern because the same method that the smugglers used to bring illegal drugs into the United States can be used by the terrorists to smuggle in firearms, chemical biological and nuclear devices. (Farah, 2011).

Another reason that makes these airports vulnerable is that protecting public places is a very difficult exercise. Providing 100% protection for such places will not only be too costly and disruptive but can also create new vulnerabilities.

Having explained why these two airports are vulnerable and hence can be the likely targets of the terrorists, I will now proceed to discuss the decontamination considerations and procedure in the event of a chemical attack on them. This will be the topic of the following section. Decontaminating BWI and SIA -- Proper and Initial Considerations

Generally speaking, toxic and lethal chemicals are particularly attractive weapons to terrorists owing to their availability and relative ease of dispersal.

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It is important to note here that if a chemical attack occurs in an airport such as the BWI and the SIA, the result will be very catastrophic. In addition, because of the time involved to remediate the airport following such attack, the economic losses will be equally significant. This fact serves as a wake-up call for all airports and airlines in the United States to make preparations not only to decontaminate the area but also to make emergency preparations for the treatment of the passengers that may be contaminated by such chemical substances.

In the event of a chemical attack on BWI and SIA, both passengers/mass and facilities decontamination will be necessary. Hence, prior to undertaking any exercise aimed at detecting and analyzing the chemical agent, mass decontamination and treatment should be resumed promptly.

Mass Decontamination

In the event of a chemical attack to BWI and SIA, this will involve the decontamination of large number of people in the airports. Such chemical attack will normally make the thousands of victims who use these airports to be in a state of panic thereby creating scenes of collective hysteria. In this kind of situation, to help control panic and keep order, mass decontamination will require the assistance of the police and both the airport and Homeland Security personnel. And since the victims may, in some cases, be forcibly rounded up and then treated in impromptu or designated decontamination areas, mass decontamination under these circumstances can take on some of the features of mass arrests. Generally speaking, close collaboration between the police and fire departments will be necessary for successful mass decontamination in this kind of scenario. In addition, to help maintain calm, augment or replace rescue and security personnel, and assist with the decontamination procedure, volunteers may also be needed.

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