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Saving lives first aim 
of security response

While the three-day event covers a wide spectrum of security-related topics, this year’s conference is emphasising on the exchange of international expertise in handling homeland security.

Tuesday’s speakers addressed how nations can ensure readiness to deal with domestic security threats. Each presenter approached the question from a different angle, but all stressed that the first and foremost aim must be protecting human lives.

Major-General Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi, Director-General of the UAE Civil Defence, highlighted the importance of educating people to help themselves in critical situations. The development of a “protective” rather than a “responsive” culture, he claimed, is a key element in crisis management.

“The first response is from the individual,” Maj-Gen Al Matrooshi said. “The community is the first responder, so we should train communities to be prepared to take measures for self-protection.”

Colonel Fabian Ochsner of the Swiss Air Force discussed the use of smart technologies in combating security threats. He discussed methods of air defence involving sophisticated equipment like radars and remotely fired weapons.

Colonel Oschner mentioned the potential worth of this technology for nations such as the UAE, which possesses invaluable offshore sites such as oil platforms.

Frank Ewald, vice-president of Corporate Security at DHL, underscored the commonality of the risks faced by the public and private sectors. “Our aim is to protect the well-being of our employees, so first of all, human life, but also our assets — our tangible customer assets which we transport and store, but also intangible assets like sensitive information,” he said.

Ewald went on to illustrate how DHL, a worldwide logistics provider, must deal with many of the same problems faced by national governments, such as the transport of illegal substances, weapons and counterfeit products. As private companies may share the same security threats and objectives as governments, he argued, platforms should be built for greater cooperation between the two.

Concluding the discussions, session chair Lord John Reid, former UK Secretary of State for Defence, highlighted various suggestions of the day in his recommendations “to allow people to prepare, to plan, to prevent and then, by implication, if things still go wrong, to pursue”.

news@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE