Since 1995, the United States has
allocated enormous resources to combating Weapons of
Mass Destruction (WMD) terrorism. Numerous government
programs have been created in an effort to prevent and
deter terrorism or to mitigate the effects of a major
attack should it occur.
These efforts have focused largely on enhancing the
ability of local first responders to decontaminate and
treat survivors, augmented by additional capabilities at
the state and federal levels. But analysts have
criticized the significant overlap and redundancy among
various federal counter terrorism programs, as well as
the lack of a clear strategy for integrating these
diverse elements into a coherent whole.
Despite the problems associated with
dealing with a coordinated approach one thing is clear,
providing the right tools in the hands of the right
people makes a difference. Over the last several years a
lot of products have been introduced to the market to
aid First Responders in accomplishment of consequence
management as a result of commercial and industrial
chemical accidents and incidents. With the ever looming
prospect of terrorism and because of a number of
developments over the past decade, the threat that
terrorists might resort to chemical, biological,
radiological, or nuclear weapons of mass destruction
(WMD) has received increased attention from U.S.
Policymakers, the news media, academic analysts and
corporate America.
The continued partnership between
Governments at all levels and the private sector have
demonstrated a determined willingness to produce the
tools that responders need to mitigate multi-tiered and
complex accidents and incidents from a minor to a major
scale. One such tool is the Palmtop Emergency Action for
Chemicals, trade name "PEAC" developed by AristaTek,
Inc. With 20 years of service to the Armed Forces and
having served in units responsible for responding to WMD
events, I've seen a number of recourses, some good and
other not so good.
One thing will always be paramount in
responding to any event and that is time and
information. Managing time and receiving critical
information allows for decisive plan execution. PEAC has
been one of the most useful tools I've ever used. Its
extensive database on protective equipment, substance
analysis and protective action distance modeling
capability, merges both time and information at the
forward edge of any response," the tip of the spear".
PEAC, not only deals with commercial/industrial
substances, but also has incorporated military
significant chemical warfare agents and explosives. PEAC
has quickly become the tool of choice for many response
organizations from Fire Departments to Specialized
Military response units like the NGB Weapons of Mass
Destruction Civil Support Teams, CBRIF and the U.S. Army
Technical Escort Unit.
AristaTek has developed one of the
premier tools to the responder community. I am pleased
to endorse its use and would recommend it to any and all
response organizations. Words that in the
not-too-distant past were obscure and seldom heard --
anthrax, smallpox, sarin
-- have now become
impossible to avoid. As we continue to prepare our
country for dealing with the possible worst, we will
continue to count on partnerships between government and
private industry to work together in providing the right
tools that make a difference in America's future.
Daniel R. Farmer
Senior Analyst
Systems
Dynamics Inc.
4815 Bradford Drive
Huntsville AL.
35805
Com (256) 895-7193
Fax (256)
895-9443
Mobile (256) 653-2611
