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Homeland Security > Test 1 > Flashcards

Test 1 Flashcards

1
Q

How can hazards be categorized?

A

Natural hazards, technological hazards, and terrorist hazards

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2
Q

Natural hazards exist in the natural environment of:

A

-hydrological, meteorological, seismic, geological, volcanic, mass movements

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3
Q

What are the characteristics of floods?

A
  • overabundance of water on normally dry land
  • many factors may cause it
  • most frequent and widespread hazard in the US
  • measured according to elevation above standard water levels
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4
Q

What are the characteristics of earthquakes?

A
  • sudden and rapid shaking of earth’s surface
  • caused by shifting of tectonic plates
  • sudden, no-notice events
  • occur every day in the US
  • -most are not felt
  • measured according to Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale and Richter Scale
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5
Q

What are characteristics of hurricanes?

A
  • cyclonic storms that occur in the Western Hemisphere
  • -storms in the Pacific called cyclones
  • begin as tropic waves and grow in intensity
  • defined by low barometric pressure, closed circulation winds over warm water, and an absence of wind shear
  • sustained winds of 74 mph or more
  • seasonal: June 1- November 30
  • Efffective tracking/warning possible
  • Damage caused by high winds, flooding, storm surge
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6
Q

What are characteristics of storm surges?

A
  • masses of water pushed toward the shore by meteorological forces
  • can coincide with high tide for especially devastating effects
  • wind-driven turbulence can exacerbate the flooding effects
  • storm surges can reach several dozen feet in height
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7
Q

What are the characteristics of tornadoes?

A
  • rapid vortex of air extending groundwork from a cloud
  • -can reach 300 mph
  • about 1200 per year in the US
  • -common between March and August
  • -occur between noon and midnight
  • measured using the Fujita-Pearson Scale or the Enhanced Fujita Scale
  • Tend to follow path of least resistance
  • -People in valleys have greatest exposure to damage
  • States with the greatest risk: TX,OK,AR,MO (Tornado Alley)
  • Safe rooms are effective
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8
Q

What are the 3 categories of wild fires?

A
  1. surface fires
  2. ground fires
  3. crown fires
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9
Q

What are the characteristics of wild fires?

A
  • air pollution
  • risk to firefighters
  • environmental affects
  • property destruction
  • made by severe drought conditions and buildup of fuel
  • -fueled by natural vegetation
  • occur in national forests/parks
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10
Q

What are characteristics of interface/intermix fires?

A
  • occur near wild

- threaten property

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11
Q

What are the characteristics of firestorms?

A
  • intense fires that are virtually impossible to extinguish

- usually burn until all fuel is exhausted

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12
Q

What are the characteristics of prescribed fires and prescribed natural fires?

A

-fires that intentionally set or select natural fires that are allowed to burn to reduce available natural fuel

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13
Q

What are mass movements and examples?

A
  • horizatonal/vertical movement of physical matter

- ex: landslides, mudflows, lateral spreads, liquidifaction, rockfalls, avalanches, land subsidence, expansive soil

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14
Q

What are characteristics of tsunamis?

A
  • wave or series of waves generated by mass displacement of water
  • most common cause is undersea earthquake
  • -also can be caused by volcanic eruption or landslide
  • greatest risk is to coastal land less than 50 ft above sea level
  • can reach 100 ft high
  • can travel 450 mph
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15
Q

What are characteristics of volcanic eruptions?

A
  • a break in the earth’s crust through which molten rock escapes
  • gas pressure can cause violent, explosive eruptions
  • ash can travel thousands of miles
  • major threat are lahars
  • -150K people live on old lahar deposits near Mt. Rainier
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16
Q

What are characteristics of sever winter storms?

A
  • occurs when extremely cold atmospheric conditions interact with high airborne moisture content
  • called a “blizzard” when combined with high winds
  • Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale used to measure severity of storms
  • -takes in account size of area and population affected
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17
Q

What are characteristics of droughts?

A
  • prolonged shortage of available water
  • primarily due to insufficient rain, or because of extremely high temperatures and low humidity
  • drought different from other hazards
  • -onset and conclusion difficult to measure
  • -no accepted definition of what it is
  • -effects less obvious and less spread out
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18
Q

What are characteristics of extreme temperatures?

A
  • major diversions in seasonal temperatures
  • can cause injuries, fatalities, economic impacts
  • heat waves killed thousands
  • cold temperatures are especially devastating to livestock and agriculture, as well as damage to infrastructure
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19
Q

What are characteristics of thunderstorms?

A
  • meterological events that bring heavy rain, strong wind, hail, lightning, and tornadoes
  • generated by atmospheric imbalance and turbulence
  • classified severe:
  • -winds over 58 mph
  • -generates tornado
  • -hail at least .75 inches in diameter
  • lightning kills 75-100 per year
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20
Q

What are characteristics of hail?

A
  • frozen atmospheric water that falls to earth
  • reach a size where they can no longer float
  • causes $1billion in damages in US each year
  • -crops/property
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21
Q

What are characteristics of technological/man-made hazards?

A
  • inevitable product of technological innovation and human development
  • can occur after failure or damage to structures and systems
  • tend to be less understood than natural hazards
  • increasing each year
  • most commonly related to: transportation, infrastructure, industry, and construction
22
Q

What are the characteristics of structural fires?

A
  • can be triggered naturally
  • lightning is the most common
  • dont typically result in disasters, but cause 1000s of deaths each year and tax emergency services
23
Q

What are the characteristics of transportation accidents?

A
  • transportation systems involve:
  • -complex and expensive infrastructure
  • -laws and policies by which the whole system is guided
  • flaws/breakdowns can result in loss of life. injuries, property and environmental damage, and economic consequences
  • systems and infrastructure considered a top terrorist target
24
Q

What are characteristics of infrastructure failures?

A
  • primarily related to critical systems of utilities, services, and other assets
  • may include loss of vital services, injury, death, property damage, or combo
  • nations dependent on them
  • blackouts cause $80 billion loses each year
25
Q

What are the primary types of infrastructure failures?

A
  • power
  • telecommunications
  • computer networks
  • water/sewer
  • gas distribution
26
Q

What are the characteristics of dam failures?

A
  • used for: flood control and water storage
  • when they fail, potential for large-scale uncontrolled releases of stored water
  • most often fail as result of maintenance neglect, overtopping, poor design, or structural damage caused by major event
  • considered a critical terrorist risk
27
Q

What are the characteristics of Hazardous Materials Incidents?

A
  • releases of chemical substances that post a threat to people and the environment
  • chemicals are prevalent in industries and products
  • may be: explosive, flammable, corrosive, poisonous, radioactive
  • typically from transportation accidents or accidents at production/storage facilities
28
Q

What are the characteristics of nuclear accidents?

A
  • radiation can cause immediate and lasting tissue damager to humans
  • exposure results from:
  • -accidental or intentional spill
  • -containment breach
  • -escape of gasses
  • -an explosion
  • material remains radioactive until it has shed all its ionizing particles
  • greatest threat in US comes from accident or sabotage at a nuclear power plant
29
Q

Terrorism and 4 main categories

A
  • intentional hazards
  • -means through which terrorists are able to carry out their attacks
  • 4 categories:
    1. chemical
    2. biological
    3. radiological/nuclear
    4. explosive
30
Q

Conventional Explosives and Secondary Devices: History and Reasons

A
  • have existed for centuries
  • Traditional and Improvised Explosive Devices
  • -easy to obtain and use
  • -can inflict massive amounts of destruction to property and can cause significant injuries and fatalities to humans
  • can be used to disperse other agents
31
Q

Explosive Devices

A
  • uses physical destruction caused by the expansion of gases that results from the ignition of explosive material
  • -pipe bombs
  • -satchel charges
  • -conventional munitions
32
Q

Incendiary Devices

A
  • relies on the ignition of fires to cause physical destruction
  • -molotov cocktails
  • -napalm
33
Q

Delivery Systems

A
  • Missie devices:
  • -rocket
  • -RPG
  • -Mortar
  • -Air-dropped bomb
  • Vehicles
  • Hand carried/placed
34
Q

Detonation Mechanisms

A
  • Timers
  • Remotes
  • -radio
  • -cellphone
  • Sensors
  • light, air pressure, movement, magnetic, pressure
35
Q

What is the most common used device?

A
  • explosives
  • -involve 70% of attacks
  • easy to obtain
  • easy to construct
  • extremely effective terror-spreading device
  • 5% proceeded by warning
36
Q

History of chemical agents

A
  • around for centuries
  • used in WWI, WWII, Iran/Iraq War
  • intended to kill, seriously injure, or incapacitate people through physiological effects
37
Q

How can chemical agents enter the body?

A
  • inhale
  • ingest
  • skin/eyes
38
Q

What are the categories of chemical agents?

A
  • nerve
  • blister(vesicants)
  • blood(cyanogen)
  • choking(pulmonary)
  • irritants(tear gas, pepper spray)
  • incapacitating
39
Q

Nerve Agents

A
  • attack the nervous system by interfering with the proper functioning of neurotransmitters
  • ingestion, respiration, contact
  • believed to have been used by Saddam Hussein on March 16 1988 against the Kurdish village of Halabja
  • -over 5000 villagers killed, mostly women and children
40
Q

Blistering Agents

A
  • chemical compounds that causes severe skin, eye and mucosal pain and irritation
  • -burn skin and internal tissue areas upon contact
  • sulfur mustards, nitrogen mustards, Lewisite
  • used in WWI, WWII, Iran-Iraq War
41
Q

Choking Agents

A
  • designed to impede breathing
  • chlorine gas, phosgene
  • absorbed through the respiratory system
  • used in: British during Crimean War, Union during US Civil War, (Germans, French and British) during WWI
42
Q

Blood Agents

A
  • chemical compounds carried by the blood for distribution through the body
  • -toxic effect at the cellular level
  • Zyklon B
  • respiratory system
  • used by Nazis
43
Q

Delivery Agents

A
  • areosol devices
  • -liquid
  • -solid (powder)
  • -gas
  • explosives
  • breach of containers
  • mixing with water or food supplies
  • direct placement on target/victim
44
Q

Recognizing chemical agents

A
  • can be recognized immediately
  • can be:
  • -persistent(hour to weeks or longer)
  • -non-persistent(10-15min)
  • effects are fast and severe
  • identification can be difficult
  • without proper training, response can be difficult
45
Q

History of biological agents

A
  • natural or modified organism(bacteria or viruses) or the toxic by products generated by living organisms
  • cause illness, injury, death in humans, livestock or plants
  • dates back to early 14th century
  • have been “weaponized” over the past 100 years
46
Q

Recognizing biological agents

A
  • can be dispersed overtly
  • can be difficult to recognize
  • -effects may take up to weeks to appear
  • infected subject may be contagious
  • recognition through:
  • -identification of credible threat
  • -discovery of weapons material
  • -victim diagnosis
  • can disrupt the economy or industry
  • detection will most likely be made by public health personnel
  • primary defense is recognition
  • -best achieved through proper 1st responder and public health training
47
Q

Biological Agents: Group A

A
  • great potential for causing public health catastrophes
  • may be easily spread over a large area
  • -antrhax
  • -smallpox
  • -plague
  • -botulism
  • -tularemia
  • -viral hemorrhagic fevers
48
Q

Biological Agents: Group B

A
  • low mortality rate
  • may be easily spread over a large area:
  • -salmonella
  • -riein
  • -Q fever
  • -typhus
  • -glanders
49
Q

Biological Agents: Group C

A
  • common pathogens that have potential for being engineered for terrorism or weapons purposes
  • -hantavirus
  • -tuberculosis
50
Q

Attack indicators for biological agents

A
  • stated threat
  • unusual occurrence of dead/dying animals
  • unusual casualties/illness
  • -unusual illness for area
  • -definite pattern of inconsistent with natural disease
  • unusual liquid, spray, vapor, or powder
  • -spraying
  • -suspicious devices, packages, or letters

Homeland Security (3 decks)

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