Are You Prepared For A Bomb?

In a very timely session at the ABA Security and Risk Management Conference, Peter Baldassaro and his team from Hibernia National Bank in New Orleans presented a program called "How to Design a Bomb Threat Plan That Won't Blow Up!"

The threat of bombs being planted in financial institutions is always a possibility, and is always in the back of the security officer's mind. The situation in the Persian Gulf made many bankers become aware of laxity in this area. And even though we are past the war activity, we must remember that financial institutions continue to be targets for bomb threats.

The speakers pointed out that there are three distinct sources of bomb threats. "Insiders" account for about 70% of this activity; "Outsiders" for about 25%: and "Terrorists" for the other 5%. All threats, they pointed out, are real. But only approximately one out of six, according to their study, involve an actual device.

The team from Hibernia broke down the areas to be addressed in the handling of bomb threats and incidents into three concerns-moral issues, legal ramifications and business implications.

Under moral issues they give attention to employee safety, the safety of customers and other guests, and the safety of emergency response personnel.

Legal concerns include the possibility of the charge of negligence, and damage awards that could result. Insurance coverage reviews and updates, and all aspects of due diligence.

The disruptive business interruption and the subsequent resumption are included in the business implications part of the planning-as well as loss of productivity and loss of profits.

The group stressed the importance of having ONE individual, and only ONE individual,designated as being responsible for decisions on the corporate course of action. Peter referred to it as the "Harry Truman Syndrome"?the buck stops at this person. A bomb threat scenario is no time for a committee meeting. The choice must be made far in advance as to the designation of the individual responsible for deciding the plan of action.

Law enforcement response also needs to be identified. If the threat contains information that the bomb-planter is acting for a "group" (i.e. the PLO, IRA, etc.), the Federal Bureau of Investigation should be notified at once. Local police, even if notified of any kind of a bomb threat, are liable to tell you, "Call us if you find anything!" A few telephone calls will clue you in on who may or may not want to hear from you in case of a bomb threat.

Every employee should know how to take information about a bomb threat from a phone call. They should be thoroughly familiar with the questions they should ask-"What time will the bomb explode? Where is it located? What does it look like?"

The special duties for various departments and department representatives should be spelled out and familiar to the people involved. Search procedures should be rehearsed, and a description of devices provided to the employees responsible for these searches. Most of our personnel wouldn't know what a bomb looks like. Other employees can be assigned duties such as turning off all equipment, unlocking desks, and utilizing established routes and meeting locations if evacuation is necessary.

A return plan and a resumption of business plan should also be carefully plotted out.

All of this needs to be in on-going training methods for new hires, and re-training and review for all employees.

The group from Hibernia is putting together a video for bomb threat training they are planning to make available to the banking community. When we learn more about availability and cost, we'll let you know.

In the meantime, don't wait to implement your own procedures. It's more important than ever to train against bomb threats.

Copyright © 1991 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 2, No. 2, 3/91