Title: Preparing and responding to mass-casualty terrorist attacks: a comparative analysis of four terrorist attacks targeting rail bound traffic

Authors: Veronica Strandh

Addresses: Department of Political Science & Centre for Research and Development Disaster Medicine, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden

Abstract: This paper addresses the challenging task of responding to terrorist attacks targeting rail bound traffic and provides a multi-level framework for analysis of such complex attacks. Major mass-casualty attacks are particularly challenging to emergency management and there is a knowledge gap concerning how to prepare for and respond to such extraordinary events. This paper categorises a rich empirical material from four major attacks on rail bound traffic and concludes that decisive components of the emergency management response in the four cases are related to agent-generated demands. Additional complicating factors emerge since each response is carried out in a specific terrorism context. Examples include sense-making difficulties, scene safety and terrorism-specific injuries. Another conclusion is that the development of knowledge and awareness about such challenges and the incorporation of such knowledge in training and response plans are pivotal to future emergency management.

Keywords: terrorism; emergency management; emergency preparedness; rail bound traffic; mass casualties; scene safety; emergency response; terrorist attacks; sense-making; terrorism-specific injuries; subway trains; railways.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2015.071709

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2015 Vol.11 No.3, pp.262 - 281

Received: 10 Jun 2014
Accepted: 19 May 2015
Published online: 15 Sep 2015 *

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