Applying Interventions to Victims of Terrorism

Applying Interventions to Victims of Terrorism

There was an explosion in Chicago on the pink line by a suicide bomber, meaning that the terrorist is dead along with thirteen other American citizens. The explosion also left sixty seven other people injured along with significant damage to the infrastructure in the area. The Ashton station was damaged and the rescue process caused the area to be sealed of resulting in heavy traffic snarl ups along the pink and green lanes and the roads leading to and from the Illinois medical district. The East African based terrorist group from Somalia, the Al Shabaab, has since claimed responsibility for the attack as a form of revenge for the killing of three of their men by the United States government. The terrorists have warned of two impending attacks in other major cities, one explosion avenges one of their men. Considering the magnitude of the first attack, the American citizens are encouraged to be more vigilant in noting any suspicious activities and reporting the same to the authorities.

Following the explosion, there is definitely a state of shock and panic among the citizens in Chicago. Terrorism creates fear, panic and uncertainty among the citizens. Terrorism often makes the people in the country feel that the government cannot adequately protect them and general fear is wide spread among the citizens. There is likely to be a rise in the number of people who will develop posttraumatic stress disorders depending on their proximity to the attack and their relationship with the actual victims of the attack (The Psychological Impact of Terorist Attacks: Lessons Learned for Future Threats). The terrorist attacks destabilize the normalcy in citizens and throws them into a fit of panic. Many people at this point develop depression and other psychological conditions that undermine their normal productivity levels and status.

The explosion damaged the Ashton station significantly and it cannot function in its current state. The state government has to find a way of quickly repairing the station to enable people to conduct their businesses as fast as possible. The economy will slow down because business that depends on the services of the Ashton station will have to stop or find alternative means of transport which could be slower. As a result, the businesses in Chicago will be slowed down significantly. In addition to the infrastructure stopping business, the people who normally use the Ashton station but were not injured during the attack will be reluctant to carry on with business as usual. The terror attack will also have created a problem on the roads because the rescue operations will have to seal off parts of the roads to avoid additional injuries. This closure alone is enough to create losses in businesses that depend on road transport to conduct their operations like courier services as well a transport companies.

The economic impact of the terror attack will be negative. Business cannot go on as usual in a city where part of it has been subject to terror attacks. The city will have to quickly repair the areas affected by attack physically so that gradually, people can resume their daily business activities and help bring the economy back to its state before the attack.

Consumers will be less confident in going to busy places such as train stations and busy retail stores. This is especially because terrorist attacks are often more likely to occur in crowded places for maximum destruction. The businesses will suffer reduced profits immediately after the attack. This is because generally people will not respond to their needs if there is no urgency in the wake of an attack. The state of panic will make people spend less money as they cope with panic and anxiety. The businesses will thus perform much slower than normal.

The government has to reassure the citizens by having agents of the ground to talk to people and follow up on the affected people. The government has to establish the number of people who need government aid and help to get back to their normal lives (Taylor, 2005). This is the number of victims and the families of those who were killed during the attack. The government has to carry out enhanced campaigns to get people to seek psychological help and the government should fund it. The government’s response has to be quick and immediate to ensure that the citizens feel the state cares about them. The government together with the Department of Homeland Security has to enhance the intelligence collection methods in the country to prevent future surprise attacks and know how to avert impeding attacks. 

The government’s role has always been to ensure the safety of the citizens. The terrorists attack citizens in order to get the attention of the government (Agency, 2003). Therefore, the government has to ensure that the areas that have been affected by the attack have enough trauma centers. This will ensure that the citizens within the area can access adequate care after the trauma of a terror attack. The government works with the medical teams to avail adequate trauma centers. The government also has to fund the hospitals in developing adequate emergency rooms to reduce the strain of major calamities from paralyzing the hospital operations when they occur.

Socially, the government has to constantly reassure the citizens that measure shave been put in place to prevent future attacks. The government has to invest in improving the security checks in all densely populated areas in the country. The government has to show the citizens that work is going on by investing in the latest security checking technology.

Economically, the government has a bigger problems because the economy involves both internal and external investors. The government has to ensure that the stock market is doing well so that the dollar remains strong. The government will have to make investment in the United states easier for foreign investors while at the same time apply due diligence in ensuring that the investors are not in any way terrorist sympathizers. The government has to do everything possible to retain investors and attract new ones even in the wake of terror attacks by making the investor requirements friends and ensure the investments are secured and insured against such eventualities as terror attacks and other man made tragedies.

The immediate impact of terrorist attacks is panic and trauma to the citizens. The citizens tend to get withdrawn from their daily routine activities and some go into depression (Agency F. E., 2002). Some people develop psychiatric problems that did not exist before. Socially people become withdrawn on the short term and immediate times. Long term effects are where people develop resistance to the traumatic situations. After surviving a terror incidence, some people are likely to have less fear in case another attack is announced because they have already been through it. on the other hand, there are people who are likely to develop full on psychological problems and suffer from acute cases of posttraumatic stress disorders, PTSD. The economy may be face immediate decline. On the short term, business will be slow for the country at large. However, in the long term, the business will improve depending on how the government will handle investors during the recessionary and recovery periods. 

References

Agency, C. I. (2003). National Strategy for Combating Terrorism. Washington Dc: Central Intelligence Agency.

Agency, F. E. (2002). Managing the Consequences of Terrorist Incidents. Washington Dc: Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Taylor, E. (2005, December 27). The Government’s Response to Terrorism and Evaluation. Retrieved from Independent Institute: www,independent.org/publications/policy_reports/detail.asp?id=18

The Psychological Impact of Terorist Attacks: Lessons Learned for Future Threats. (n.d.). In J. J. Mathewson.