Port Security Applied Policy Project - Belfer Center for Science and ...

Problem 2: Inaccessibility of the Port Complex
SELECTION CRITERIA
This study uses the following criteria to evaluate alternatives for deploying materiel.
¸ Accessibility ¸ Cost
1) Accessibility: in the event of an attack, the materiel must be readily available.
Port workers must be able to access materiel without waiting for first responders to
airlift it to them. By then, many casualties could occur that may have been avoided.
2) Cost: deploying the necessary materiel must not be cost-prohibitive.
As with all other expenses itemized in this study, the availability of funds provides
constraints for both purchasing and deploying the first aid and rescue materiel.
ALTERNATIVES
1) Stockpile emergency response equipment throughout the port complex.
Cost: $350,000 138
Stockpiling materiel in warehouses at each port terminal would provide support for the
estimated 20,000 civilian workers at the port each day. If there is an attack, workers
could utilize these caches of civilian first aid and rescue materiel.
Strengths: Strategically distributing these stockpiles to each port terminal potentially
makes the materiel more accessible to workers than if they needed to wait
for first response agencies to distribute these first aid and rescue tools.
Drawbacks: First responders indicated that stockpiling these items in locations
throughout the port complex might not be effective because, regardless of
how close these stockpiles may be to an incident, the workers still may not
be able to access them during an emergency. 139
2) Provide each CERT-trained port worker with a small equipment kit.
Cost: $105,000 140
Many first response officials and port workers agreed that instead of using stockpiled
caches of equipment, CERT-trained port workers should be allocated individual kits of
first aid and safety equipment to keep with them at their job sites. 141 These kits would
138 Estimates by PSAPP Team based on email correspondence with Firefighter Jim Harkins, Caryn
Friedenthal, and senior port complex officials. See Appendix C for additional details.
139 Sheriff Lee Baca, interview by Warren Allen, Monterey Park, CA, 24 February 2003.
140 Estimates by PSAPP Team based on email correspondence with Firefighter Jim Harkins, Caryn
Friedenthal. See Appendix C for additional details.
141 Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department,
and ILWU all expressed general agreement with this idea.
Allen, Clampitt, Hipp, and Jacobson 53