Secure Pesticide Storage: Security Against Terrorist Threats

Many farmers and managers of pesticide storage facilities had concerns about biosecurity and agroterrorism even before the Oklahoma City bombing and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our nation. Businesses that manufacture, reformulate, sell, distribute, transport, store, or apply pesticides have long known the mitigation steps for safety of their workers, customers and communities. In todays age, these efforts may not necessarily be enough. This document is PI-42, one of a series of the Pesticide Information Office, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date May 2005.

Oklahoma City Bombing

The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States prior to September 11th, 2001, provides valuable insights into many of the key homeland security challenges faced by a diverse Republic like the United States. These tactical, operational, and strategic-level challenges include but are not limited to: communication; operations and logistics; victim and family support; public perception, media, and information dissemination; the tensions between liberty and security in law and policymaking; and the relationship between the executive and legislative branches and their roles and tendencies during and after a national security crisis. Although the aftermath was marked by resilience in the face of great tragedy and some noteworthy successes, this article analyzes the effectiveness of the tiered, progressive emergency response, particularly highlighting shortcomings, broader implications, and impacts for the U.S. and other republics in their approach to dealing with terrorism and homeland security incidents moving forward.

Expansion: Night Moves

This chapter discusses Night Moves as a political thriller about ecoterrorism, and focuses on Riechardt’s adjustments in form, style, and content as compared with her prior body of work. While on the surface, Night Moves appears to have more commercial intentions, it is an overt challenge to cinematic commercialisation. Although the thriller genre promises sex, action, and special effects, Night Moves, in true independent cinematic fashion, never shows these events on screen. Night Moves invites ethical questions through the ecoterrorist actions of the protagonists and the gender commentary supplied through the sparse dialogue and character interactions. Through interviews with Reichardt and her cast and crew the chapter covers production methods and makes connections with contemporary environmental activist groups, such as the Earth Liberation Front, the Occupy Wall Street movement and to terrorist acts such as the Oklahoma City bombing.

The Association Between Dissatisfaction with Debriefing and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Rescue and Recovery Workers for the Oklahoma City Bombing

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to investigate potential association between psychopathology and subjective evaluation of the experience of debriefing in disaster-exposed rescue and recovery workers.MethodsStructured diagnostic interviews for DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders were conducted with 166 firefighters who served as rescue and recovery workers for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, who categorized their satisfaction with the debriefing on 4 levels. “Very dissatisfied” responses were examined for their association with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and with PTSD symptom groups.ResultsBeing “very dissatisfied” with the debriefing was significantly associated with the DSM-III-R avoidance and numbing group and with PTSD.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that debriefing may be an unsatisfactory intervention for people with prominent avoidance and numbing symptoms, such as those with PTSD. These individuals might be better served by referral directly to psychiatric treatment (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:718-722).