Some risk managers and healthcare organizations have disaster plans for even the most exotic threat, while others have so few meaningful disaster plans that they are more appropriately labelled “Inconvenience plans”. Most folks who have news sources other than main stream media, however, are getting increasingly concerned about the deterioration in national and international situations that could lead to serious “unusual” or “black swan” threats to healthcare operations and even personal safety.
A headline over the weekend from WND.com makes it clear that you should make a priority effort to dust off you black swan level disaster plans (or bust your backside to prepare some). An excerpt from the story is quoted below.
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has confirmed to WND that the Islamic State has seized enough radioactive materials from captured Iraqi facilities to develop “dirty bombs,” just as ISIS’ recent English-language magazine, Dabiq, claimed.
The ISIS claim had alarmed the Australian intelligence service, which initially revealed the prospect that ISIS fighters have seized sufficient radioactive and biological materials from research centers and hospitals – which previously were under Iraqi government control.
Such seizures were first revealed at a meeting of the Australia Group in Perth, Australia, at which Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop expressed the deep concern of members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and regional partners over the potential use by ISIS of the seized materials.
“We are aware of claims that ISIL has declared its motives of developing a ‘dirty bomb’ in a recent edition of its propaganda magazine,” Defense Department spokeswoman, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Elissa Smith, told WND.
“We share the same concern as our Australian defense officials and regional partners and will continue to use our intelligence resources to remain vigilant of any activity and indicators of this violent extremist organization’s intent to employ such weapons,” she said.
It is the first time that any U.S. official has confirmed that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, had acquired a sufficient amount of radioactive materials to be incorporated in conventional weapons, such as artillery, to spread harmful radiation.
A “dirty bomb” simply is a conventional explosives package wrapped with radioactive or biological materials.
If such projectiles are fired into highly populated, confined areas, the effect of such an explosion would radiate the area for years to come.
U.S. officials have told WND that there is mounting concern that ISIS, with its development of weapons of mass destruction, may accelerate attacks, even though the Muslim world has just entered into the month-long holy period of fasting called Ramadan.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/pentagon-confirms-isis-dirty-bomb-claims/#dJF8rTiBBmjHWXDQ.99
As some of you know, my personal background includes fire-rescue- EMS as a volunteer, national EMS organizational involvement, community emergency planning, and hospital disaster planning, plus legally representing fire departments and EMS organizations over the years. All of this coupled with my risk management instincts tells me that things big and bad are rapidly approaching. I do not claim to know for sure what threats will materialize or when and where they will hit, because some of it is already in the headlines and more could be tomorrow, but I do know information and preparedness planning are critical.
While I have categories for fire, EMS, and disaster planning on this site, I do not think it would be adequate to mix some of these topics into this site and dilute the legal and compliance issues or the preparedness issues into one combined site. As soon as I am able, therefore, I will be putting up a restricted access website dealing with non-classified source information on threats, risk management recommendations, and contingency planning for professional and family risks. I have not started on this, but as soon as this site is completed, I will announce it here.
Information is key, so that will be my focus.