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9/11 ATTACK 2
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
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).\
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.
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
According to the situation, several emergency responses can be targeted based on the
a) Have a strategy of ensuring the safety of the people and their emotions too.
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
e) Organize some lesson talk for the victims in a way that can help them forget the event
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.
9/11 ATTACK 6
References
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
Owen, C., Bearman, C., Brooks, B., Chapman, J., Paton, D., & Hossain, L. (2013). Developing a
http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ijem.2013.054098