The next book in this series of Security Handbooks will be The Holiday and Travel Security Handbook and it will include information to help people protect themselves from acts of terrorism. However, publication is not until Spring 2006. In view of the terrible bombings in London I felt that readers would benefit now from some of the information that will appear in the next book.

Terrorism – Countermeasures

In reality, there is little that the average person can do and probably little that the vast majority of people need to do, to protect themselves from terrorist attacks.

A new good quality bullet proof vest will cost you at least £800. But that vest only fully protects your torso from a frontal or rear assault.

A bullet can hit your head or neck, arms or legs and they could maim or kill as well. If hit in the arm or leg by a bullet, without prompt medical attention blood loss and shock will kill you anyway. A shot or injury to the groin, which is not protected by a ballistic vest, is notoriously hard to treat in the field. As vital organs are in the lower abdomen and major arteries run through the thighs and groin, unless you get immediate attention, after being hit in the groin area you will probably die.

So a bullet proof vest isn’t as protective as most people think they are, and they won’t protect you from a car bomb, a nail bomb, a blast bomb, virus release, poison dust or gas, etc.

Try not to panic though, as a member of the public you are extremely unlikely to encounter terrorists. Unless you work for a defence contractor or news station in a war zone, you shouldn’t lose any sleep about the protective quality or otherwise of ballistic vests.

Nobody can guarantee to protect you from terrorist atrocities. However, you can protect yourself and help to protect society by remaining alert.

General

• Human beings have nervous systems, which react according to our genetic programming. That means that we have automatic and natural functions that we cannot control. We breathe, sweat and shiver when the body decides that conditions are right. When we are scared, we are genetically programmed to prepare for ‘fight or flight’, to fight the threat that has scared us or to run away from it. That means that when we are scared, the body automatically prepares itself for one of those actions. Our heart rate rises and adrenaline is squirted into our systems making us more alert, which also makes us visibly more nervous and apprehensive.

 

A suicide bomber will be nervous. Unless they are heavily drugged, and you would probably be able to see that in their behaviour anyway, you will be able to see that somebody is on edge, hyped up and ready for action.

If a person was hyped up and nervous while waiting for a job interview, or about to run a race, you would expect that, but you wouldn’t expect somebody walking into your government office to be like that! Anyone who is hyped up and nervous just walking into a government office should raise suspicions. If the bomber is that close, it is probably too late but these are potential clues that somebody could pick up.

• If the suicide bomber isn’t carrying a bag or case, they have to strap the device to their body. If they do that they would have to hide the bulk of the explosives, and the wires and trigger device from general view so they would probably be wearing a coat or bulky garment. If it is a hot day, they will stand out because of their clothes, but also because they would be sweating from the heat as well as acting nervously and on edge. That will make them stand out from the crowd. Are they carrying a briefcase with a strange wire going to a switch in the handle? There are some signs if you look for them and can identify them.
• Suicide bombers are single minded. Once they set off on their mission they have increasingly tunnel vision and can only see their goal. This means that they can appear to be rude, they push and shove to get to that office door. They might push to get to the front of the queue, then pause a moment before purposefully striding in to kill and be killed. That might make them stand out from the crowd too.
• A person who pauses when he sees uniformed security staff, or turns away when he sees that visitors have to go through a metal detector has to be suspicious. A visitor who is nervous but appears to be waiting for something unknown, may be waiting for a bigger crowd to gather in reception or might be waiting for the Chairman of the company to arrive before doing his or her dirty deed.
• Even simple clues are available. A person who does not have a company pass, or doesn’t know that staff use the right hand access gate and only visitors use the left hand gate. Somebody who just doesn’t fit into the normal scene should be watched.
• When driving a vehicle a suicide bomber has the same tunnel vision. Approaching their target they will only see that office door, or the entrance to the underground car park. They may wait, illegally parked ignoring car horns and insults, so that they can follow somebody through the entrance barrier, or they may be preparing to ram though it. They might cut through traffic and appear to be oblivious to it, or to the rules of driving as they concentrate on getting the vehicle to the target. After all they aren’t worried about parking fines or court appearances for driving the wrong way up a one way street!