Editorial

Citation

Wilson, H.C. (2002), "Editorial", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 11 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2002.07311baa.001

Editorial

The ramifications of the events of 11 September have changed the way we see our world, especially those of us who live in the developed western nations. No longer are we allowed to be complacent about events that occur in our daily lives. We are starting to see bogey-men everywhere. We are becoming more than slightly paranoid about the threat of another series of terrorist attacks. The media rapidly latch on to every fault uncovered in our security systems, whether or not the risk from these perceived faults is real or imaginary.

As an ageing gent who likes to go hill and trail walking in strange places all over the world, now I have to leave behind certain items of equipment that I feel are essential. I always carry a small first-aid kit that contains a small Swiss army knife that has proven useful on many an occasion (blade length 1.2 inches). This terrorist weapon lives in my first-aid kit, that is always in one of the large exterior pockets on my rucksack, that always travels in the hold of the aircraft. Out have gone my nail-scissors (blade length one half inch), that also reside in the first-aid kit, as these are also regarded as a potential weapon. Gone has my spring-loaded walking-stick, which has saved me from many a tumble, as this always travels with me in the aircraft cabin, as it could also be used as a weapon. It travels with me in the cabin, as I refuse to let any more of them be stolen en route during their transit through the baggage-handling system in the airports, when strapped to the outside of the rucksack.

I totally agree with the tightening-up of the security measures for air travel, but we have to be realistic about the levels of security we employ before we reach the level of idiocy. What next, my grandmother's walking-frame? So, it is goodbye, foreign places – this ageing gent is doing his walking purely in the UK from now on, despite the weather.

But 11 September has also changed the way we perceive the emergency response systems. It has spawned a new breed of disaster specialists, who fit somewhere in-between emergency crisis management and consequence management. There was a gap that had no obvious need to be filled, but the threat of terrorist attacks with biological or chemical weapons has reduced that gap. Emergency crisis managers are now faced with having to prepare for the possibility of these outrages, a field in which many would not feel comfortable working due to lack of knowledge. How fast would smallpox spread? How can it be contained? What precautions would need to be in place? Is there an adequate public health system there to advise and influence the outcome? The UK is just coming out of the shadow of the recent foot-and-mouth outbreak and one of the lessons from that disaster is that the rules governing the most common emergency events just do not apply to biological intrusions. With the advent of an increasing number of people travelling far and wide the possibility of someone returning with a serious, highly infectious disease is rapidly increasing. Are we prepared? Have we closed that gap?

Henry C. Wilson