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Terrorists shifting focus to “soft targets" (AP Sept 8 09)
Congressional debates over healthcare reform fill the airwaves with endless diatribes on polarized positions on what is good or not good, for the American people. Lost in all that noise is the fact that there is no “terrorism lobby”. Why?- they don’t need one. Widely distributed terrorist’s cells, both international and domestic, have little need to seek additional advantage for their purpose. Hospitals and healthcare organizations have long been “soft” and “desirable” for terrorism. Choices for attacks are not unlike a cafeteria menu. Suicide bombers come in all shapes, ages and genders. We have seen an increase in women bombers looking for equal rights in the “blow myself up” competition to kill and injure innocent populations. Emergency vehicles (ambulances, bought through E-bay, stolen, or cloned) all make excellent delivery platforms for “dirty bombs”.
Looking for a best approach or avoiding a hardened area takes little planning, in that today’s hospitals have not been built to resist bomb blasts or considered layers of space or barrier protection. The industry has followed the Hospitality model with great glass atria etc. Urban Medical Centers with facilities closely clustered eliminates the need for time consuming coordinated attacks.
We know why American Hospitals are “soft targets” but why “desirable”? The killing of substantial numbers of caregivers, patients and others in a hospital setting produces a “Terror Multiplier Effect” (TME) by the horror of the event and the secondary effect of destruction of pre-planned facilities expected to treat area casualties. In an earlier article we were challenged by many on the issue that American hospitals have been known targets for terrorism since 9/11.
The liability risk associated with failure to prepare for known terrorist threats has not been widely covered by the media. Hospitals across the world have been sites of terrorist’s attacks from all quarters: outside ambulance borne attacks, bombers mixed in with casualties, inside attacks by medical staff etc.
We have seen the risks posed by exposed radioactive materials (1/2 of the dreaded ‘Dirty Bomb’) in healthcare organizations and lack of preparedness for H1N1 on the doorstep. How do Healthcare Boards measure the personal risks for liability associated with “duty of care” for all-hazards events? Enterprise Risk Managers throw around terms like: “loss tolerance”; “emerging risks”; “return for risks”; “risk controls-avoidance-transfer-acceptance-offset” etc. As non-lawyers and healthcare professionals we look to others for guidance. The American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) should be a source for such guidance. A quick glance at the organization’s Annual Conference schedule gives us little comfort.
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