Use of EMS Personnel as Intelligence Sensors: Critical Issues and Recommended Practices; Master's thesis

摘要

The use of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel as intelligence sensors or information collectors to provide information to Terrorism Early Warning Groups (TEWGs) and other local and state government intelligence fusion centers is recommended by numerous academic papers, professional articles and presentations, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security best-practice documents. These documents identify EMS personnel as valuable intelligence sensors, in part because they have access to locations not routinely available to law enforcement or intelligence communities that may contain indicators of terrorism. In spite of these recommendations, exceptionally few TEWGs have incorporated EMS personnel into their information collection systems. While many TEWGs are interested in integrating EMS collection assets, they have not developed this capability because they are confounded by the complex legal, operational, professional, cultural, and societal challenges of using EMS personnel in this capacity. Conversely, at least one intelligence fusion center developed an EMS-based information collection system, but overlooked federal and state medical confidentiality laws and other strategic issues. There has been no significant debate among federal, state, and local intelligence, EMS, law enforcement, homeland security, and medical communities regarding the best practices and strategic consequences of using EMS personnel as intelligence sensors. Absent an such an interdisciplinary debate leading to the development of model EMS information collection practice standards and the articulation of clearly defined public benefit, elected officials, the leadership of the EMS and medical communities, and other policymakers will not sanction the use of EMS personnel in this capacity, resulting in the inability to use EMS personnel as information collectors to prevent terrorism.