HOUSTON ASIS Meeting Minutes

5/29/02

Chapter 012

Pamela Duncan, Secretary

 

The Chapter met May 29, 2002 at the Doctor’s Club.  Chairman Mike Mason CPP presided.  The meeting incorporated an optional (4) hour training program. Approximately 50 members and 4 guests attended.

 

9:30-10:00     Check in and complimentary continental breakfast

 

Session 1:  Terrorism Preparedness and Response from A Corporate Perspective: An Actual 9-11 Case Study

 

This presentation was prepared by John P. Frey, the former Director of Corporate Health and Safety for Compaq.  Unfortunately, Mr. Frey could not attend at the last minute, but Mike Mason capably delivered the presentation.

 

Highlights: Before the recent merger, Compaq had 68,000 employees in 400 locations in 200 countries.

Pre-September 11: Typical of almost all corporations, Compaq tended to focus on site-based preparedness, rather than global affects.  They relied heavily on local law enforcement and emergency response agencies to provide services.  Their employees traveled freely and they had “casual” access control.

Initial Response: Do we have employees in the WTC?  Are any in the air?  What about our executives?  How can we help our customers?  What locations might be next?

Immediate Impact:

*   5 employees in the WTC, one on a hijacked airliner

*   Corporate data centers were destroyed

*   Relocated employees were working in poor working conditions

*   The local families needed to be home with their families

*   Customers ran legacy equipment that was no longer in production

Lessons Learned

*   AMEX is a good information source to identify who was where and who was scheduled to travel.

*   NYC/EMR responded extremely well, but local resources were overwhelmed

*   Deploy your staff early to the affected area

*   Build a good relationship with your local agencies now.

Compaq now:

*   Business-critical travel only.  Teleconferencing was more fully implemented.

*   Revised the emergency plan and it was evaluated by an independent auditor

*   Renewed relationships with local LE

*   Increased site-security globally

*   Risk assessments were updated

Anthrax: Does your whole building become a crime scene?  Compaq employees worked in the Hart Senate Building and in every major U.S. Postal site.

*   How do you get PPE for 2000 engineers?

*   What kind of PPE do you need?

*   How do you find employees willing to work in a hazardous environment?

*   Getting the USPS to provide information

*   How do you handle contaminated equipment?

USPS Response:

*   60 employees were considered exposed to Anthrax and put on antibiotics

*   Many were afraid to return to work

*   Their precautions sent the message to their employee that they came first.

*   Most plans didn’t consider how to decontaminate equipment

Compaq’s Immediate challenges:

*   3-5 internal scares daily

*   How do you process mail for the executives

*   Pranks

*   Terrified employees?  What are you doing as a company to protect me?

*   Lack of credible information (must develop a self-help plan)

*   Decontamination considerations:

1.       is anthrax present

2.       where is it, can you contain it

3.       what are the capabilities of local responders (talk to them now and participate in drills)

4.      How do you decontaminate equipment?  What do you have on hand?  (3 layered bags with 1 part bleach to 4 parts water)

5.      How do you dispose of contaminated equipment? (prioritize and triage)

6.      How do you know when it’s clear? (newer, more sensitive testing equipment)

Lessons learned:

*   Response capabilities vary widely

*   Do you have a local response team or can you contract with an outside source?

*   Don’t fly by the seat of your pants; crisis breeds bad decisions

*   90% is not enough with a deadly substance

*    Know when to call for help

*   Use an incident command structure

*   Share your plans with your employees

*   Document drills

Why are we shocked?

*   Those things happen somewhere else

*   It was not perceived as a credible threat

*   We’re not trained for WMD terrorism

*   The shear magnitude of these events

Lessons for First Responders

*   Terrorism is a response reality not a potential

*   Plan for the worst scenario

*   Develop relationships with key partners

*   Don’t hesitate to leverage the business community

*   NEVER sacrifice your credibility

What can business offer?

*   They can hold practice drills

*   Provide resources, such as equipment

*   Provide global perspective

*   Provide key contacts: who to call when it goes outside your physical perimeter

*   Manpower

*   Finances

How to approach business?

*   Think like business people

*   Find a key contact

*   Don’t wait until the emergency

*   Provide assistance

*   Develop credibility

 

In summary: Are you ready for the next challenge?

 

Session 2: The Art of Profiling; Speaker: Dan Korem

 

Dan Korem is a critically acclaimed author, documentary producer and independent investigative journalist whose program on the art of profiling new extremist threats has been seen by 150 million people.  His company has trained over 20,000 education and law enforcement professional how to identify and guide out of harm’s way the Random Actor “bomber/shooter” in our schools and businesses.

 

Behavioral profiling is not criminal profiling.  There is also a difference between stereotyping and profiling.  The system was originally developed to help corporations deal with customers, clients and in employee selections. 

Corporate uses:

*   Interviewing/Hiring

*   Sales/Marketing

*   Developing Career paths

*   Negotiations

*   Coaching/counseling

*   Fraud detection

*   Delivering presentations

*   Identifying potential persons of random violence

*   Diffusing confrontations

The average person demonstrates a 25% profiling accuracy.  With training, you can achieve a 75% accuracy rate.  There are four core traits that create the profiling grid, each with a range in its extreme: Predictable (Law enforcement) versus Unpredictable (Research and Development) and Confident versus Fearful (paranoia). 

*   A person who is predictable and confident is called a Manager

*   A person who is predictable but fearful is a Conformist

*   A person who is confident and unpredictable is an Innovator

*   A person who is fearful and unpredictable is a Random Actor

 

A Random Actor hates the opposite: the Manager.  A Manager is not necessarily a person, but can also be defined as a corporate image.  For example, by looking at a brochure for American Airlines, it is viewed as a Manager (confident and predictable) whereas Southwest Airlines is viewed as an Innovator (confident yet unpredictable).  Other examples of Manager/Innovator in business are IBM/Apple Computers; McDonald’s/Jack in the Box or the Postal Service/UPS.  Students often view jocks, Administration, or Christians as Managers (who raise children? parents/church/school). 

 

The best approach to a Random Actor is as an Innovator; back off, looked more relaxed; don’t get “in their face”.  Random Actors often come from broken homes, have had little structure and might have been abused.  In the more affluent homes, both parents usually work full time jobs but don’t have to, leading to latch-key children.

 

Examine the trends: Of 64 million youths, 40 million match the at-risk profile.  An interesting point: Atta’s parents were divorced 5 years before September 11 after 35 years of marriage.

*   the newer gangs; small groups or factions such as Straight Edge (vegans/no drink), PETA or digital gangs

*   youths building bombs

*   random actor youths (excessive acts of violence).

 

What do these last three have in common? 

*   Small towns: less change and variety, more repetitive lifestyle, more predictable

*   Suburbs: angry students with means and mobility

*   Why no Alternative Education incidents who have the highest population of at-risk students?  Because the school is innovative, it has change and variability and protective factors are put in place with a zero-tolerance policy.

 

To lessen the numbers of Random Actors, the problem must be addressed while they are youths because you cannot change the adult.  Some solutions in the school which apply to the workplace:

*   Provide change and variability, not just more responsibility

*   Pair them up with an innovator as a mentor

 

Mr. Korem will be teaching a workshop in Houston in the fall.  Information will be forthcoming.  Two of his books were available for purchase.

 

12:00 lunch was served before and during session 3.

Session 3: Emergency Communications – When Seconds Count and Accountability is Critical

 

Red and Donna Delatte manage First Call Network. Inc., a Baton Rouge, LA-based company.  Their company successfully provides businesses and governmental agencies a method of conveying critical information during disaster with documentary proof of message delivery.

 

85% of organizations fail because of lack of communication.  First Call works with the phone companies and a mapping system to contact fixed lists of clients or residents with time-critical information.  For example, they locally work with the North Channel LEPC to provide shelter-in-place notifications.  The message will describe the type of incident with safety instructions.  3,000 calls can be placed in under 10 minutes by the closest radius.  They also call back with an all-clear. 

 

Mr. and Mrs. Delatte provided a video demonstration of a drill.

 

Session 4: Proactive Response to Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) Terrorist Threats

 

Chris Quina is Vice President for Homeland Protection Services of Ecology and Environment, Inc.  Mr. Quina employs his 18 years of experience in emergency response and preparedness planning to advise businesses and governmental agencies on domestic preparedness issues.  For 8 years he served as program manager of E&E’s Superfund Technical Assistance and Response Team contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6.  They focused on NBC response and prevention.  E&E was the lead contractor in the biological clean up of the Anthrax-affected post offices and the Pentagon.

 

Response Management

The MOST important lesson from recent events – YOU must remain in the decision loop for any incident that occurs.

*   Do you have protocols to follow if a suspicious package is received? 

*   Do you have a notification plan?

*   Do you have an Evacuation Plan, assembly area?

*   Do you have a contingency plan?

*   Have you identified a local health provider who could screen/treat your employees for biohazards?

*   Operations Center: in each incident to date some or ALL of the facility was compromised.  Do you have a back-up OC?

*   Do you have an Incident Command response team?

The SECOND critical lesson from recent events – effective communication is paramount to your response/recovery success.

*   Criminal Investigation – FBI is lead, CDC will confirm.  You need information from them ASAP to plan your response.  Minimum 24-28 hours for anthrax confirmation.

*   Assessment – communicate your desire and ability to assess the extent of contamination.

*   Input/Opinions and Data – Identify who will receive (pursue) and disseminate information from and to government agencies.  Gather, digest and truth any information before you act on it.

 

Response and Recovery:

Information Management

*   Clearly, regularly and QUICKLY provide information – in the absence of information, people will get it any way they can.  If you provide it to them, you can ensure it is accurate.

*   Set up an intranet page or phone line for employee updates

*   Explain changes in information – never present information as “the final word”; anything and everything can change on these incidents.  Build trust by explaining uncertainty up front.

*   Be prepared for questions and negative reactions – have a plan for who, how and when to respond to questions.  Have a contingency plan for temporary workers and alternate vendors.

Preparation and Contingency Planning

Understand and incorporate local, State and Federal plans.

*   Update current response plans: WMD threats, WMD methodologies, health and safety issues

*   Training employee awareness on hoaxes, liability for unknowns, unions, exercises/scenario/ USC/ICS, Hazwoper.

Upgrading Response Plans and Procedures

*   Anthrax/pathogen preparedness programs

*   Health and Safety: entry/egress, personnel decontamination, and bulk sampling procedures

*   Vendors of clean up technologies for contaminated buildings

*   Private sector local area resources

*   Integrate new procedures with existing response programs

 

 

The next meeting will be Wednesday June 26 at the Doctor’s Club.  Our speaker, Captain Bob Royall, is with the Houston HazMat Squad.