Running Head: 9/11 ATTACK 1

Multi-Agency Emergency Management Event of 9/11 Attack

Students Name

Institutional Affiliation
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Multi-Agency Emergency Management Event of 9/11 Attack

The September 11 attacks also known as 9/11 attacks remains the deadliest attack on the

American land in the U.S history. These attacks caused massive deaths of about 3,000 people

thereby triggering the efforts of the U.S in combating terrorism. Among the people who died

were the police officers since hundreds of them had been rushed to the scene including the

firefighters. This event and the response from various areas of a profession that followed it form

an example of multi-agency emergency management.

Summary of the event

The event which occurred on September 11, 2001, involved 19 militants affiliated with

Islamic group known as the Al-Qaeda. The group hijacked four U.S airline and used them to

commit suicide attacks against their targets. Two planes flew towards the world trade Centre in

the New York City, the third plane was used to hit the Pentagon tower outside Washington DC,

and the last plane crashed in Pennsylvania. The attack led to massive death of people

approximately 3,000 and over 400 police officers as well as firefighters (History.com, 2010).

The events began unfolding at 8:30 am in the morning of Tuesday. An American jet fuel loaded

with 20,000 gallons crashed into the World Trade Centre from a northern point of a strike at the

80th floor. After some 18 minutes, another airline struck the same tower from the southern point

on the 60th floor. The collision had a massive impact that it showered the neighboring buildings

with burning debris (History.com, 2010). The terrorists involved had various reasons for the

attack particularly, the involvement of the U.S. in the Persian Gulf war, its retaliation to support

Israel, and its continued military dominance in the middle east. As the events continued to unfold

in New York, another American Airlines slammed into the Pentagon tower at 9:45 am from the

western side. Eventually, the buildings collapsed due to the devastating inferno that was caused
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by the jet fuel. Finally, a fourth California plane was hijacked some few minutes after leaving

the airport in New Jersey. Although the plane crashed in Pennsylvania at 10:10 am killing all the

people who were onboard, it was later rumored that the intended target of the plane was White

House, the Camp David presidential retreat or U.S capitol (History.com, 2010).\

Response of the police and firefighters agencies

The 9/11 attack recorded the most difficult response in the history of fire service. At no

time in the history of the U.S had the fire department been summoned to respond to an incident

of such a magnitude as the one of the World Trade Center. The 90-minute operation ended in

catastrophe that led to the death of several firefighters. In fact, the magnitude of the event

overwhelmed the most response-ready fire department in the globe. Several gaps seemed evident

in the way the fire department tackled the issue. It is quite clear that the best firefighting

department of the world was not prepared adequately for responses affiliated with large scale

incidents. Thus, several questions can arise from the way they responded. First, was the personal

deployment enough or there was some form of conservativeness? Second, it realistic for the

firefighters to enter extraordinary events without technological means required to gather critical

intelligence? And finally, should there be proper means of communication that can be used to

track and account for persons at risk in the department? (Fireengineering, 2002). On the other

hand, the police responded fully. Some places were left without protection, for example, the

citys bridges, tunnels, and ports in order to respond to the critical situation at the World Trade

Center. The police seemed to have a well-established communication which made them to

sustain a limited number of deaths compared to the fire department. All in all, the response was

high from both the departments which in many ways portrayed loyalty to the state.

Roles within the structured command

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Every organization or a business unit needs to have its parts well defined and known to

everyone. Each unit must have its leader to avoid conflicts of command. Organization events are

seemingly important as it increases accountability among individuals as well as the general flow

of communication which return increases the operations safety and coordination. With regards to

this case, the emergency group led to an increase in a number of responding individuals in both

the South and the North of the towers. Effective communication became a challenge among the

people who were rescuing the victims (Owen et al., 2013). As things continued to escalate to

worse conditions, it reached a point that the commander never knew what was happening due to

lack of communication. This was quite a difficult situation to deal with, and therefore, as a result,

increased number of deaths were recorded. There should be a particular role pertinent to each

department within an organization. If for instance, the number of deaths of the officers occurred

due poor communication then the communication department should be answerable to any

question that would rise regarding the deaths. Depending on the nature of the challenge there

should be a particular role delegated to each department to ensure that every nature of the

challenge is addressed as required. Along with this is the need to embrace a specific procedure of

command regarding how to operate a particular set up. The management should form the

resources required by managers to address the various challenges that would present at any

particular time (Owen et al., 2013).

Crisis response objectives

According to the situation, several emergency responses can be targeted based on the

inclusion of the following:

a) Have a strategy of ensuring the safety of the people and their emotions too.

b) Enhancing impartial treatment of the people irrespective of the problem at hand.

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c) Knowing the individuals who are likely to suffer much influence as a result of the

problem.

d) Ensuring that the activities proceed as usual and seeing to it that people forget the event

as quickly as possible and get back to their normal lives.

e) Organize some lesson talk for the victims in a way that can help them forget the event

and move on with life.

Decision-making strategies

As a leader, it is of utmost importance to be ready to face any kind of challenge that may

present to you. Challenges manifest in two broad categories namely external and internal

challenges. Also, it is worth noting that people work from both the perspectives of strategic and

operational levels. Thus, among the challenges presented to leaders could be increased

uncertainty, convergence, and complexity, how to reduce risks, and how to embrace policies that

would connect the issue in measuring the efficacy of the emergency management. From another

perception and along with these challenges would how to develop strategies that can be used to

effectively manage disasters (Owen et al., 2013). The solutions to these challenges can be

achieved if leaders continue reviewing their strategies and making necessary changes where

possible. The need for standby as a strategy should be upheld with many concerns to ensure that

proper procedures are followed and embraced in accordance with disaster management.
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References

Fireengineering, (2002). WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER: INITIAL RESPONSE.

Fireengineering.com. Retrieved 3 April 2017, from

http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-155/issue-9/world-trade-center-

disaster/volume-i-initial-response/world-trade-center-disaster-initial-response.html

History.com, (2010). 9/11 Attacks - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com. HISTORY.com.

Retrieved 3 April 2017, from http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks#

Owen, C., Bearman, C., Brooks, B., Chapman, J., Paton, D., & Hossain, L. (2013). Developing a

research framework for complex multi-team coordination in emergency management.

International Journal of Emergency Management, 9(1), 1.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ijem.2013.054098