Unit V Essay

Project Scenario and Questions

The Scenario:

The Oakland Athletics home game at O.co Coliseum, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621, is held on August 18th in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record in California. On this particular day, the high is 110 degrees. In attendance are approximately 35,000 spectators and 5,000 players, team staff members, support staff, coliseum employees, and venders for a total of around 40,000 people in an area of about 157 acres. O.co Coliseum is located in the San Leandro Bay area and has 19 bridges that connect it to the city of Oakland.

The Situation:

A large scale, well planned, and well-funded terrorist attack has been planned by a California based radical terrorist group known as BC. The members of this terrorist group want to force the government to divide California into three separate states. They are violent, willing to die for their cause, and are home grown, so they know the culture and can blend into a crowd. Ten of the terrorists are employees at the coliseum. On this day, they have driven vans to work that are full of weapons, explosives, ammunition, and other supplies.

During the 3rd inning, the attack occurs. Nineteen small boats are loaded with explosives. Each boat is manned with five heavily armed terrorists. The radicals tie off their boats under the 19 bridges. The extremists exit the boats, enter the parking lot of the coliseum, and remotely detonate the explosives, destroying 18 of the 19 bridges, but leave the North Bridge partially intact. Just prior to the bridge detonations, four U-Haul trucks with two occupants in the cabs and 10 heavily armed terrorists in the back of each truck drive through the North Bridge Gate, also entering the parking lot. Each U-Haul truck also contains a large amount of extra supplies to keep the terrorists’ operation going. The terrorist force is comprised of 153 well-armed members who are willing to die for their ideology.

Once the coliseum has been cut off from the city of Oakland, the terrorists use cars from the parking lot to block the remaining portion of the North Bridge. Other cars in the parking lot are set on fire so the heavy smoke will block the view of law enforcement helicopters. All coliseum exits are blocked by burning vehicles and by armed terrorists. Exits that cannot be blocked are destroyed with explosives. Innocent bystanders in the parking lot are shot and killed. Identifiable armed security and Oakland Police Officers are attacked and also shot and killed by the radicals who have high-powered rifles and automatic weapons. It is believed that the inside of the coliseum has been booby trapped with explosives.

The goal of the terrorists is to contain as many people as possible inside the coliseum and to prevent escaping baseball fans outside of the coliseum from swimming to safety by using the surrounding waterways. Since there are several terrorists outside of the coliseum, they are able to warn the extremists inside the ballpark in plenty of time to stop fans from escaping.

The Tactical Situation:

Local law enforcement consisting of 50 police officers who were assigned to the game along with 200 regular security guards are injured or dead. Hundreds of game fans are dead in the parking lot and in the coliseum with hundreds more injured. Mutual aid has responded to the event. Police SWAT teams, Sheriff’s SEB teams, and FBI SWAT teams are on standby while they assess the situation. Over 500 law enforcement members who can enter the coliseum are under fire. Other members of law enforcement are on the opposite shore of the coliseum to offer covering fire for victims that are trying to escape by swimming to safety.

The exact number of terrorists is not known, but eye witnesses who managed to escape in the initial attack and law enforcement officers report approximately 150 terrorists involved in the incident. The police also report having neutralized 10 of the terrorists, so there are around 140 observed terrorists left.

Negotiations have been established, and the situation is now in its second day. With little food or water for the tens of thousands of victims still alive inside the coliseum and with a constant summer heat of 110 degrees, the situation is dire.

Armored vehicles have been gathered from surrounding agencies, and the California National Guard has been activated. The armored vehicles have been parked in a 180 degree perimeter around the coliseum to offer cover for law enforcement and for victims able to escape across the water to safety.

NOTE: No federal troops can be used because it would violate the Posse Comitatus Act. However, a loophole allows for victims to be taken to the Navy because they are off-shore. During Hurricane Katrina, National Guard medivac teams were able to take victims to the Navy because there were no boots on the ground.

Instructions:

As you write your draft and final essay, be sure to answer each of the 10 sets of questions listed below. You must indicate in your paper which set of questions you are addressing. For example, (1.) The 180 degree perimeter will be… Your paper does not have to address the questions in any particular order. You must follow APA guidelines.

Your Task:

You are in charge of all Fire Department assets; EMS; and coordination with hospitals, clinics, and the USNS Comfort, which is birthed just outside of San Leandro Bay. The Governor of the State of California has declared this situation a State of Emergency, so any resources you need will be available. Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCAC) can hold up to four fire trucks each. With all but one severely damaged bridge out, the only way to get fire trucks and other heavy equipment into the area is by amphibious landing on the west side of the coliseum. There are large pumps staged on the west side to supply water to the fire trucks.

Over the past two days and nights, a few hundred victims have been able to escape by crossing the water; however, most are severely injured.

1. With your 180 degree perimeter around the coliseum, where will you have your EMS teams set up so they can aid those who have escaped? How will you get them to a medical facility? How will you decide which facility they are taken to?

Anticipating a large number of casualties, you have coordinated with the local hospitals, clinics, and the United States Navy, which deployed the USNS Comfort.

2. How will you decide which casualties go to what medical facility?

During this horrific event, the media will be everywhere, but will be unable to fly due to the heavy smoke. They will be able to see your perimeter and assets being gathered.

3. How will you keep the media from giving the terrorists critical intelligence by inadvertently recording where they should not video? Can you use the media to your advantage in this situation, or will the media just be a hindrance?

Due to the two days of extreme heat, exposure, and dehydration, law enforcement has decided to enter the coliseum. It will be a fight to secure the location. SWAT teams will need to fly in by helicopter, while under fire and with low visibility, to bring the coliseum and parking lot under control.

4. When SWAT enters the parking lot, it appears to be cleared of terrorists who have likely moved into the coliseum. SWAT teams need to enter the coliseum, but it will require fire fighters to break open a large hole in one side of the coliseum. To avoid the potential injury of patrons, explosives have been ruled out as a means to gain entry. What fire department assets will you deploy to break a hole into the coliseum? What equipment will you need? What security assets will you require to ensure the safety of the fire fighters breaching the coliseum walls?

While the breaching teams are working, other fire fighters must extinguish burning cars in the parking lot that have been kept ablaze by the extremists. The fires are hindering the views of helicopters that are deploying additional SWAT teams.

5. With multiple cars burning all around the coliseum, what assets are you going to deploy to extinguish these fires? Where are you going to start, and what type of security are you going to provide for each fire truck?

During the operation to secure the coliseum, the responding SWAT teams have to pick a direction to move in. You must decide in what direction they should move.

6. You have the option to send EMS in with the SWAT teams, and you have at your disposal EMS from city, county, state, and National Guard agencies. Are you going to send in EMS? If so, with which wave will you send them? If not, why not, and how are you going to use EMS?

During the operation to secure the coliseum, the crowds in the areas not yet secured are coming under fire from the terrorists. The crowd begins to resist the terrorists in order to aid the incoming SWAT teams who ultimately kill or capture the terrorists.

7. You receive reports that the coliseum appears to be secured, and there is no active resistance. The fires are extinguished in the parking lot, and the outer wall of the coliseum has been breached. Because there are nearly 38,000 casualties with injuries ranging from exposure, dehydration, and gunshot wounds, what is your next move?

The casualties have been triaged, the National Guard has deployed temporary bridges, and you have a fleet of helicopters, hundreds of ambulances, and other emergency vehicles at your disposal.

8. How are you going to coordinate with your resources to evacuate the remaining 38,000 survivors still at the location?

Keeping in mind this is an active crime scene, there will be many deceased in the parking lot and inside the coliseum.

9. Most of the fatalities will be game spectators, but there will also be victims from fire departments, law enforcement agencies, and the National Guard, so emotions will be high. How will you coordinate the removal of the deceased, and with whom? Will you leave them at the venue or remove them to a staging area for identification and proper removal? For scenario purposes, there are 2,531 victims who were declared dead at the venue. There are an additional 253 deceased at local hospitals and on the USNS Comfort.

The number of terrorists that have been killed or captured is 140. Due to conflicting accounts from baseball fans who were able to escape from the coliseum, law enforcement may not know there were actually 153 terrorists involved.

10. As the head of the fire departments, EMS, and hospital coordination, you know there may be terrorists still on the loose who have gained valuable intelligence on how the emergency services will respond. What steps are you going to take to prepare, plan, and train for the next possible attack?

The following are suggested resources to use in your scenario:

 Oakland City Emergency Services;

 Alameda County Emergency Services;

 California Highway Patrol;

 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection;

 all hospitals and medical clinics;

 surrounding counties, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, Sonoma, Napa;

 USNS Comfort (T-AH-20);

 all parks, colleges, schools open parking lots,

 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);

 California National Guard; and

 four Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCAC) from Camp Pendleton.

Unit V Essay

For this third phase of your essay project, you will begin writing. You must create a three- to five-page page rough draft of your final essay paper. Using your peer-reviewed articles and the instructions for the scenario, begin to fill in the outline you created in Unit IV.

Your draft paper must be at least three- to five-pages pages in length. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced. Paraphrased and/or quoted materials must have accompanying citations in APA style.

Note: Your final essay paper will be 10 pages in length. You must incorporate any feedback provided by your professor. If you do not write a full five-page draft, you will have to integrate the remaining pages into the final essay paper. For example, if your draft is three pages in length, you will need to include an additional seven pages to complete the final essay.