By Rich Anderson
September 27, 2004

What does the mayor do when two chemical bombs explode in a crowded shopping mall? Dozens are feared dead, and hundreds are writhing in pain, bleeding, and convulsing from exposure to a toxic nerve gas. That's what 14 Connecticut Mayors discussed in West Haven where West Haven (CT) Mayor H. Richard Borer, Jr. hosted the Mayoral Institute for CBRNE and Terrorism Incident Preparedness Summit, (CBRNE — Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Explosives). The Summit was held at the Savin Rock Conference Center in West Haven on August 4, and was spearheaded by West Haven Homeland Security Coordinator Richard Fontana, Jr.

The six-hour Summit addressed the role of chief elected officials in responding to a terrorist attack through multimedia scenarios and vignettes. According to Borer, the Summit was the first of its kind in the region. The event was sponsored through the Mayoral Institute for Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Incident Preparedness, a federal program run through the Department of Homeland Security — Office of Domestic Preparedness and Texas A&M University.

"Orchestrating emergency response in the chaotic aftermath of a terrorist attack might be strangely similar to conducting a symphony," Borer said. "As mayor, we don't have to know how to play each instrument, but we do have to know how each instrument — Fire Department, Police Department and Health Department — plays."

The Summit brought mayors together with experts organized through Texas A&M University. Phil Crosbie, program manager for the Texas Engineering Extension Service led mayors through a simulated terrorist attack — chemical agent bombs in a crowded shopping mall. Another terrorism expert, former FBI Agent J. Michael di Pretoro, emphasized the importance of opening and maintaining communications between municipal first responders. The first responders must be well coordinated to quell a mass casualty incident. Another member of Crosbie's team is retired Oklahoma City Police Chief Sam Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who was Chief when 168 people died in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building, urged mayors to devise public information plans before attacks occur.

Attending mayors received a homeland security reference guide that lays out the role federal, state and local public safety and health agencies would play in an attack. Connecticut State Division of Homeland Security first responder program manager, Robert McGarry, commented that the lessons learned in the Summit could help mayors deal with natural disasters and other crises in addition to terrorist attacks.

The Conference of Mayors Homeland Security Task Force has been aggressively pursuing emergency preparedness and terrorist incident response capabilities at the local government level. Task Force Co-Chairmen Baltimore (MD) Mayor Martin O'Malley and Sugar Land (TX) Mayor David Wallace held a meeting recently in Boston at the 72nd Annual Conference of Mayors Meeting. Wallace presented information on the need for local government to develop regional emergency response capabilities. He introduced the concept of a Regional Logistics Center that would integrate military-like logistical approaches to public health and safety in the emergency preparedness and response efforts of multiple jurisdictions. Much of what was learned at the West Haven Summit could be amplified through such regional centers.