10/07/2008
The recent floods in the mid western part of the U.S. as well as the two recent horrific earthquakes in Asia prompted one to think about the role of executive protection as it relates to responding to a disaster where a protectee is involved. The term disaster is broad and that’s part of the consideration that executive protection specialists should have in preparing for such emergencies. While natural disasters dominate the nightly news, a terrorist event can easily turn into a disaster. Man-made disasters involving toxic chemicals can present a serious hazard to VIP in the same manner as an attack on a principal (AOP). Unfortunately the tendency seems to be”call the fire department” and let them sort it out. Not exactly the desired or correct response.
All Source Consulting Group (www.allsourceconsultingllc.com), conducts emergency response training as part of our core services so I’m probably a bit more sensitive to the need to prepare for disasters as part of executive protection services than other firms might be. I’m also aware that several federal law enforcement agencies with close protection responsibilities have teams equipped to respond to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incidents where a principal might be in danger so the concept and the requirement is not new and certainly not my own.
Nevertheless, here’s some considerations that executive protection specialists need to plan for when it comes to disaster response and executive protection:
- Self protection-Self protection extends beyond the protectee and includes the personal security detail (PSD) as well. There must be a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) on hand for both the PSD and the protectee at all times. There’s more to merely purchasing the equipment and riding around with it in the trunk. That equipment has to be fit tested to the protectee and every member of the detail. Forget the one size fits all approach.
- Training-PSDs need to prepare for CBRN incidents by training. There’s two considerations here: first, train on the gear and second, train on how to perform your protective mission with the gear on. Naturally, the protectee needs to be trained on the gear well before he or she has to don it under emergency conditions. By the way, have you ever practiced decontamination with your protectee? Can you render emergency medical treatment in PPE and under simulated CBRN conditions?
- Equipment-Is your protective detail properly equipped with more than suits and masks? Do you have CBRN sensors and alarms positioned as part of your rings of security? What about when your protectee travels? What measures do you have to accommodate your protectee during travel?
Moving beyond CBRN emergencies, executive protective specialists should also be trained to perform basic search and rescue duties. In the event of any collapsed building or collapsed structure incident, executive protection specialists should be able to safely evacuate the protectee. This might mean first locating the protectee and assuming there are no injuries, move the protectee out of that structure. All Source Consulting Group has a four hour training program designed to empower protective details to conduct basic search and rescue and evacuate a principal from a collapsed building. This is particularly important in most foreign countries where basic search and rescue skills, equipment and expertise doesn’t exist. The simply truth is that you will be largely on your own.
If you think the notion of an executive protection detail getting involved in basic search and rescue is far fetched, then look no further than the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. If that’s not convincing enough, think of the Pentagon on 9/11.
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