The Aftermath of 9/11

Terrorist attacks tend to be disastrous especially due to the numerous loss of lives that it encounters. In the contemporary world, almost every country has been faced with the challenge of terrorist attack. One of the unique feature of most of the terrorist attacks that are occurring in the present world is their nature of unexpectedness. Precisely, regardless of whether a nation has well trained and effective counter terrorism systems, most terrorist attacks usually occurs when everyone least expects. In this connection, the 9/11 attack remains a historic moment for the Americans as well as the entire world at large, especially due to the manner in which this attack occurred, the high number of individuals who lost their lives in the process, and the mass destruction of resources that resulted (Kamien, 2012). However, following this attack, the federal government adopted and implemented a number of counter-terrorist and emergency response measures and this could be one of the major factors that have enabled this country to remain a bit safer for the last seventeen years.

The occurrence of the 9/11 terrorist attack brought various emergency service agencies together in a number of ways. For example, since this attack resulted to the dead of a high number of individuals, all the emergency service agencies became sensitized that if such an attack can occur in the heavily armed and guarded places like Pentagon and the World Trade Centre, numerous attacks can occur anywhere at any given time. In addition, the emergency service agencies contemplated that most of the lives that were lost, including those of most of their personnel could have been prevented if all the emergency agencies could have worked together (Fessenden & Flynn, 2002). For example, during the attack, each agency was working on its own, to such an extent that most firefighters were burnt to ashes since they never got an early warning that the World Trade Center would collapse. This attack sensitized the emergency service agencies to have a common line of command.

In addition, the attack sensitized the federal government to sensitize the emergency service agencies to be effective when it comes to responding to emergency cases. The Congress advocated for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which then formulated the National Incident Management System (Kamien, 2012). The core objective here was to make the emergency service agencies to be effective when it comes to responding to large-scale national, state and local attacks (The Atlantic., 2016). Advanced emergency response programs were launched to all the emergency service agencies, random drills were and are still being conducted in order to evaluate the readiness and timeliness response of various emergency personnel. A common line of command, common medium of communication and control were established. In addition, extensive surveillance and screening of individuals and cargo at the points of entry has also been enhanced.

Besides responding to terrorist attacks, the National Incident Management Framework has also been effective in responding to numerous other emergency situations such as the occurrence of natural disasters as well as industrial accidents. Some of the recent successes in terms of emergency response cannot be limited to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing as well as the natural catastrophes such as the Hurricane Katrina.

References

Fessenden F., and Flynn K., (2002). Fatal Confusion: A Troubled Emergency Response; 9/11 Exposed Deadly Flaws In Rescue Plan. Retrieved from, https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/nyregion/fatal-confusion-troubled-emergency-response-9-11-exposed-deadly-flaws-rescue.html

Kamien D., (2012). Homeland Security Handbook, 2nd edition. McGraw-Hill publishers.

The Atlantic., (2016). Is America Any Safer? https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/09/are-we-any-safer/492761/