| Preparedness against chemical terrorism attacks at the local jurisdiction level remains insufficient in the post-9/11 environment. The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of several salient factors on the level of local jurisdictions' chemical terrorism preparedness. The theoretical model applied to this research is the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense model of Healy, Weston, Romilly, and Arbuthnot, which stipulates that preparedness is a primary dimension of defense. Survey data were collected from 75 emergency management coordinators in three counties of a mid-Atlantic state. The hypotheses tested were that chemical terrorism preparedness in local-level jurisdictions is affected by the independent variables of public sector funding, government officials' support and leadership, interagency public and public-private sector cooperation, appropriate training and exercises, and appropriate equipment and technologies. Statistical analysis of the survey response data using the Somers' d ordinal cross-tabulation procedure indicated a positive statistical association between the existing levels of each of the independent variables and the chemical terrorism preparedness level at the 5 percent level of significance. A key observation relevant to the practice of chemical terrorism preparedness was that additional personal protective equipment and training were considered to be critical needs facing the jurisdictions surveyed, even though these needs were typically being met to some extent. The primary implication of this research for positive social change is that improvement in the practice of chemical terrorism preparedness may provide improved protection of citizens from physical harm, loss of life, and loss of property resulting from potential chemical terrorism incidents. |
