Posted on September 11, 2001 at 12:15 p.m.

Three UAB Experts React:

• International Security
• Rescue from the Rubble
• Emergency Medical Response

UAB Expert Reacts: INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

STORY:

“You Americans are vulnerable.” That is the message that terrorists sent to the United States today, says international security expert Cassady Craft, Ph.D., at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, (UAB). “In terms of terrorism, we don’t know when or where or how they will strike, and that produces an impossible defense problem for the United States.”

WHO:

Cassady Craft, Ph.D., is an expert on international security. He is the author or editor of Crossroads and Conflict: Security and Foreign Policy in the Caucasus and Central Asia (Routledge, 2000); and Weapons for Peace, Weapons for War: The Effects of Arms Transfers on War Outbreak, Involvement and Outcomes, (Routledge, 2000). Craft teaches courses on international politics, global peace and security, and terrorism and political violence. Craft is an assistant professor in the UAB Department of Government and Public Service.

WHAT:

“The terrorists have selected these political, symbolic targets. The ultimate message is ‘You Americans are vulnerable. We can strike you at any time and do damage’ This is an organized, sophisticated operation. This is obvious from the fact that they have selected multiple targets. A highjacking in itself is a complex endeavor.”

CALL:

Gail Short, UAB Media Relations, (205) 934-8931 or gshort@uab.edu. After hours, call (205) 934-3411 and ask for the Media Relations person on call.

NOTE: We are the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Please use UAB on second reference. We are not to be confused with the University of Alabama, which is a separate, independent campus.

UAB Expert Reacts: RESCUING VICTIMS

STORY:

Confined space rescue expert Alan Veasey, MPH, an instructor with the University of Alabama at Birmingham Center for Labor Education and Research (CLEAR) Workplace Safety Training Program. Veasey trains firefighters, emergency personnel, industries, agencies and unions in all aspects of confined space rescues, hazardous material emergency response and use of incident management command systems.

WHO:

Veasey, training manager, firefighter/EMT and instructor with the UAB Center for Labor, Education and Research Workplace Safety Training Program, teaches emergency response teams basic confined space rescue; rescue team organization; and command, planning, operations and logistics of incident management systems.

WHAT:

“What they are dealing with is a mass-casualty incident with a cross discipline scenario: emergency teams tending to the injured, hazardous materials responders working at the site because of residual fuel or combustion by-products and requirement for heavy-rescue crews to cut through the structure to rescue any survivors. This is a huge challenge to manage all of the personnel and resources involved in responding because it is such a massive event.”

CALL:

Jennifer Park, UAB Media Relations, (205) 934-3888 or jpark@uab.edu. After hours, call (205) 934-3411 and ask for the Media Relations person on call.

NOTE: We are the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Please use UAB on second reference. We are not to be confused with the University of Alabama, which is a separate, independent campus.

UAB Expert Reacts: EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE

STORY:

“Three things are now happening: responders are securing the scene, putting out the fires and treating causalities in the field and at hospitals,” said Guillermo Pierluisi, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and associate director of medical response for UAB’s Center for Disaster Preparedness.

WHAT:

As of now the National Disaster Medical System has not been activated, which means states have not requested medical assistance from the federal government. New York City and Washington, D.C., are well prepared to respond to an incident of this magnitude. Local fire services, which include emergency medical services in both cities, are responding and controlling the scene. New York City, with the collapse of the second tower, may need to request federal rescue assistance to look for survivors and recover bodies. If so, federal resources such as Urban Search and Rescue Teams and Disaster Mortuary Teams may be activated. Local agencies in Washington, D.C., should be able to handle the situation there.”

“Injuries that are most likely being treated are blast related injuries — contusions, concussions, fractures, injuries to internal organs, burn-related injuries, asphyxiation from smoke inhalation and injuries sustained from falls from high altitudes.”

CALL:

Joy Carter, UAB Media Relations, (205) 934-3411 or mjcarter@uab.edu. After hours, call (205) 934-3411 and ask for the Media Relations person on call.

NOTE: We are the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Please use UAB on second reference. We are not to be confused with the University of Alabama, which is a separate, independent campus.