A first responder is literally the first trained person(s) on the scene, after an emergency incident. In America, the most commonly recognized first responders are: EMS, the fire department or the city’s police department. There are a lot of different characteristic that are attached with being a first responder. For instance, bravery, excellent social skills, composure, and thick skin are a few necessary traits. However, along with the pure nature of being a courageous first responder, there are some pretty serious risks attached; especially when it comes down to an international terrorist event on US soil. “Risk is commonly thought of as a product of a threat or hazard, the vulnerability of a community or facility to a threat or hazard and
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Millions of Americans risk their lives daily for the protection and preservation of life and health of others. In the event of an international terrorist attack, much like 9/11, the first responder is not someone you would typically imagine. “In the United States, private security employees outnumber the police three to one (Newman & Clarke, 2008).” With that being said, the average first responder is, in all actuality, a security officer. Having been in the private security sector, majority of the security officers are novice officers, with little to no training in rendering first aid. The primary mission of a security officer is to observe and report. The major risk associated with this is the lack of knowledge in what to do next. Often times the only thing the security officer is used to doing is making a phone call to the proper authorities and waiting until someone shows up. This idle time can cause confusion and lead to shock and panic. Newman and Clarke (2008) note when the police arrive on the scene, they need a full blown account of what happened; a flustered security officer does nothing to aid in the facilitation of a …show more content…
The one that stood out the most and is the riskiest, is the test of security. “Tests of security is done by terrorist to determine how long it takes for people or security to respond to the stimulus (TheCellMuseum, 2012).” This is one of the scariest phases because innocent bystanders and security itself could view an unattended bag or some other unusual item as a test, (or worst, be completely oblivious to it) but it could possibly very well be the real deal. If in fact the test of security is the real thing, someone is going to have to take the blame. “Because first responders are often first in line to blame, it is understandable that a police executive, for example, might be tempted to overreact, either by doing too much or by trying to avoid the first responder role (Newman & Clarke, 2008).” This is definitely a character issue, but in the event of an international terrorist attack on US soil, it is a huge risk to take and there is no place for
Millions of Americans risk their lives daily for the protection and preservation of life and health of others. In the event of an international terrorist attack, much like 9/11, the first responder is not someone you would typically imagine. “In the United States, private security employees outnumber the police three to one (Newman & Clarke, 2008).” With that being said, the average first responder is, in all actuality, a security officer. Having been in the private security sector, majority of the security officers are novice officers, with little to no training in rendering first aid. The primary mission of a security officer is to observe and report. The major risk associated with this is the lack of knowledge in what to do next. Often times the only thing the security officer is used to doing is making a phone call to the proper authorities and waiting until someone shows up. This idle time can cause confusion and lead to shock and panic. Newman and Clarke (2008) note when the police arrive on the scene, they need a full blown account of what happened; a flustered security officer does nothing to aid in the facilitation of a …show more content…
The one that stood out the most and is the riskiest, is the test of security. “Tests of security is done by terrorist to determine how long it takes for people or security to respond to the stimulus (TheCellMuseum, 2012).” This is one of the scariest phases because innocent bystanders and security itself could view an unattended bag or some other unusual item as a test, (or worst, be completely oblivious to it) but it could possibly very well be the real deal. If in fact the test of security is the real thing, someone is going to have to take the blame. “Because first responders are often first in line to blame, it is understandable that a police executive, for example, might be tempted to overreact, either by doing too much or by trying to avoid the first responder role (Newman & Clarke, 2008).” This is definitely a character issue, but in the event of an international terrorist attack on US soil, it is a huge risk to take and there is no place for