Bomb Inside or Outside Building

Inside the Building

The internal bomb attack is most often experienced as a terrorist hoax or a prank. However the potential damage, injury and loss of life could be severe. So the contingency plan in this case must cover both the handling of a threat call and the discovery of a suspicious item, and should involve:

• Immediate notification to the police of any threat.
• Pre-set plans for reacting to the threat call.
• Pre-set, easily displayed and practiced plans for evacuating to a place of safety.
• Pre-set and practiced means of communicating evacuation plans to visitors.
• Means for securing the site against entry until the police have allowed access again.

Outside the Building

The car or truck bomb represents an extreme form of terrorist attack, designed to cause maximum economic damage, both short and long term. The risk of large numbers of casualties and deaths is great because of the large scale structural damage that invariably results. Generally, vehicle-borne bombs consist of military-grade or homemade explosives in large quantity, and involve a high degree of pre-planning, commitment and expertise. They may or may not be accompanied by threat calls. It is important to be able to deal with the disruption caused by terrorist hoaxes or pranksters as well as with the incident itself.

There is also the chance that bombs will be left in streets, parks and other public places and in bags, briefcases and packages. The potential for loss of life, injury and disruption is still high although the long-term damage may not be so extensive.

Preparing for the Possibility

Plans for dealing with the chance of injury to your employees or damage to your property from a device outside your building have to be based on one key issue — Evacuation always carries a certain risk, either of employees moving closer to, rather than away from, the bomb or of moving into the open where they may be at risk more from falling masonry and fl ying glass than the blast itself.

Management should establish whether "internal evacuation" to a bomb shelter within the building is a viable option. In a bomb shelter area employees can be assured that whatever structural damage occurs to their building or those surrounding it, they will be safer until the emergency services can give them the all clear to leave.

Plans should cover the following:

• Immediate notification to the police of any threat
• Pre-set plans for reacting to the threat call
• Pre-set, easily displayed and practiced plans for evacuating to a place of safety (which may be either a bomb shelter area or an external site)

Summary

The ultimate determination of how to handle a bomb threat must be made by the individual responsible for the threatened facility.

Develop a bomb incident plan. Draw upon any expertise that is available to you from police departments, government agencies, and security specialists. Don't leave anything to chance. Be prepared.

Bomb Incident Plan

1. Designate a chain of command
2. Establish a command center
3. Decide what primary and alternate communications will be used
4. Establish clearly how and by whom a bomb threat will be evaluated
5. Decide what procedures will be followed when a bomb threat is received or device discovered
6. Determine to what extent the available bomb squad will assist and at what point the squad will respond
7. Provide an evacuation plan with enough flexibility to avoid a suspected danger area
8. Have a contingency plan available if a bomb should go off
9. Establish a simple-to-follow procedure for the person receiving the bomb threat
10. Review your physical security plan in conjunction with the development of your bomb incident plan

Command Center

1. Designate a primary location and an alternate location
2. Assign personnel and designate decision-making authority
3. Establish a method for tracking search teams
4. Maintain a list of likely target areas
5. Maintain a blueprint of floor diagrams in the center
6. Establish primary and secondary methods of communication
7. Formulate a plan for establishing a command center, if a threat is received after normal work hours
8. Maintain a roster of all necessary telephone numbers

WARNING! The use of two-way radios during a search can cause premature detonation of an electronic detonation device.