By Prof. Otakar Jiří Mika, Associate Professor, Police Academy Prague, Faculty of Security Management and Department of Crisis Management, Czech Republic.
A discussion on the lack of a National Strategy and National Action Plan for protection against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats in the Czech Republic is needed. It needs to be aimed at protecting the population and general preparedness for CBRN issues. The improvement of the integrated chain of preventive, protective, rescue, mitigation, reaction, and recovery measures is key. Likewise, the good preparedness of everyone involved in extraordinary events and its consequences such as rescue workers, paramedics, medical personnel, police, special hospitals, special military units, the general population is paramount to protect us from possible terrorist CBRN attacks.
The Czech government and the responsible Czech authorities consider security problems to be key issues of the State’s internal policy. It is obvious that, at present, issues of state security are becoming a priority in the daily activities of the government, constitutional officials, and individual departments of the national economy.
Therefore, it is important that the Czech Republic also pays increased attention to protection against chemical, biological, and radiological terrorism in vulnerable public places (for example, in the Prague Metro).
Preparedness of the country for CBRN protection
The question of the executive and control body, which in the Czech Republic is the State Office for Nuclear Safety, is also essential. It may have escaped the uninformed that a state office that has nuclear safety in its name also includes the following three important expert areas of activity:
-Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
-Prohibition of chemical weapons.
-Prohibition of biological and toxin weapons.
The good preparedness of everyone (rescue workers, paramedics, medical personnel, police, special hospitals, special military units, the general population, etc.) for extraordinary events, especially for managing their consequences, including possible terrorist CBRN attacks, requires the following necessary procedures in particular:
– Systematic preparation of control units and authorities for the possibility of CBRN terrorism.
-Sufficient knowledge of CBRN terrorism acquired by the population (knowledge of the population about possible extraordinary events and emergency situations at the place of their residence or work, including terrorist attacks; clarification of the methods of warning and protection of the population; questions, etc., answered by the administrative authorities at the place their residence).
– Basic provision of written instructions on CBRN terrorism to the general population and their correct response (description of possible emergency events, including terrorist attacks; methods of warning the population; shelters for the population and protection systems; improvised protective equipment and aids, what to pack for an evacuation, evacuation routes, assembly points for the evacuated population, etc.).
– Practical training of residents for cases of CBRN attacks; necessary activities and use of various personal protective equipment and aids; production of improvised protective equipment; training in what to pack in the case of an evacuation; training in the evacuation of the population; comprehensive training of acquired skills and habits; training of the population in response to possible extraordinary events and emergency situations).
-Theoretical training of rescuers and policemen for cases of CBRN attacks and assaults (acquiring the necessary basic knowledge and awareness of CBRN issues).
– Practical training of first responders, rescuers, and police officers on training grounds and in exercises in the case of CBRN terrorism, acquiring the necessary skills and habits for operations in extraordinary events and emergency situations such as terrorist attacks.
– Systematic, regular, and comprehensive verification of knowledge, skills and habits of rescuers through not only written tests, but also practical verification in the field.
The overall preparedness of the population for extraordinary events, emergency and crisis situations, and their adverse effects is a very complex, complicated, and long-term issue. In the Czech Republic, a system for preparing all groups of residents for extraordinary events and crisis situations has not yet been created (only partially for primary school pupils and secondary school students). An integral part of such preparation must be regular and systematic preparation of the population for possible CBRN attacks.
The Czech Republic has gradually developed several large and detailed integrated rescue system emergency response plans for the most important areas of CBRN, as shown below:
-Reaction to the misuse of biological warfare agents and biological agents against the population (General Directorate of the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic, Emergency Response Plan 2006).
– Reaction to dirty bombs or other dangerous radioactive materials (General Directorate of the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic, Emergency Response Plan 2015).
– Reaction to the misuse of chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals in the Metro (General Directorate of the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic, Emergency Response Plan 2013).
National strategy and national action plan for CBRN protection
Despite the fact that the above-mentioned emergency response plans cover the area of CBRN quite comprehensively, we still see certain professional gaps in the area of CBRN protection. That is why it would be very useful and beneficial to create a National CBRN strategy in the Czech Republic and subsequently a National CBRN action plan to protect the population and professional rescuers from the mentioned threats.
A great advantage is that many developed countries have created such documentation and it is mostly publicly available (Canada’s example is shown below). This already created documentation can be very inspiring for the Czech Republic, and to a large extent it may become a basic model to be elaborated in accordance with the conditions in our country.
Useful models and inspiration can be found in developed foreign countries such as Canada. Some older strategies and action plans are as follows (see these examples which can be found on their website):
-Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Resilience Strategy for Canada 2011.
-Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Resilience Action Plan for Canada 2011.
Conclusions
State and intelligence services, together with police and state authorities, must focus thoroughly and single-mindedly on detecting any preparation of terrorist attacks in order to prevent such acts of violence worldwide.
Particular attention should be paid to the important issues of CBRN and related rapid and reliable protection of the population as well as rescuers and hospital staff in the Czech Republic. CBRN terrorism could cause a very large number of victims. It is obvious that new terrorist threats will not escape the Czech Republic.
Acknowledgement
The work was partially supported by funds allocated to a scientific research project performed within the security research programme of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic entitled, “Use of addition methods for detection and identification of CBRNE materials” (VI20192022171).
About the Author:
Otakar J. Mika has been working as an academic for a long time. Now he works as full-time job at the Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague, Faculty of Security Management, Department of Crisis Management. At this university, he also leads a national professional scientific research grant, which is focused on radiation methods for detecting CBRNe substances and materials.
He works at the said university as an academic staff member and lectures several specialist subjects in the field of crisis management, emergency planning and population protection. He has been active in academia for over 25 years, and his main research area is weapons of mass destruction and protection against their destructive effects. He regularly publishes both in the domestic and foreign professional press. He regularly participates in domestic and foreign professional security conferences.
