Threat Based Response Patterns for Emergency Services - Article Example

Despite the fact that the overall threat level has been rising since 9/11, the overall responsiveness of the emergency departments has not been up to the mark as there are still of gaps at the policy and procedure levels which need to be fulfilled. The actual policies made in terms of terrorism and explosive threats have not been fully translated into day-to-day operations of the emergency response departments of the country. As such there is a clear need for the change in the overall responsiveness of the departments dealing with the emergencies specially the explosive and hazardous explosive material.

While citing the history of how terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeeda actually monitored and did surveillances of the emergency fire department, police presence around World Trade Center made it clear that emergency response departments responsible for managing terrorist threat at the local level are also the specific targets of the terrorist attacks and their overall responsiveness to terrorist attacks including that of hazardous explosive attacks such as the one at the Boston Marathon requires drastic changes in the operational standards and readiness of emergency response agencies at the domestic level.

To deal with any perceived risk and threat and to manage it properly, it is important to first convert the knowledge into the quantifiable risks which need to be minimized. Judging threats from the perspective of their critical nature and vulnerability are some of the key variables which need to be explored and considered while developing any response to any threat including that of the hazardous explosives.

An important step towards managing this threat is to basically develop the risk mitigation strategies based upon the risks and vulnerabilities identified through critical risk assessment process. The threat-based response actually needs to be based upon what mitigates can be put in place in terms of minimizing any threats.

Author provides a detailed overview of how the risks, mitigates and needs as well as resources to tackle threats by the emergency response departments can actually be translated into the actual plans and strategies to equip emergency response teams to deal with any threat easily. Implementation of training systems, identification and deployment of the training resources as well as the development of training curriculum and leadership skills are what needs to be practically implemented in order to actually improve the capabilities of threat response departments to successful deal with any threat including that of the hazardous explosives. (Mahoney, 2010)