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The Heroic Response to Terror: The Case of Oklahoma City

The deadliest incident of domestic terrorism in the U.S. has special significance for human resource management because the target was government employees. Sixty percent of the 168 fatalities and 40 percent of the 647 injured were federal and state government employees in Oklahoma City. Words and numbers inadequately depict the tragic human toll of this unnatural disaster and its intense effect on many lives; the human costs are still emerging. The Authors examine two sets of ethical issues in human resource management that arose during the extended, dangerous, and frustrating rescue operation in which thousands of emergency rescue workers, medical and public safety personnel, city employees, community organizations, and many others participated. First, ethical issues emerged from the tension between the concepts of responders' heroism and their professionalism, including the duty of competence. For some, the aftermath of their experience is marked by signs of stress, which is insufficiently addressed by federal programs. Second, early in the rescue, core ethical values clashed in a profound ethical dilemma in which disinterested expertise serving the public interest vied with urgent, individual need. Because courageous response to the latter meant disregarding standard emergency rescue procedure but was rewarded with the highest organizational honor, emergency personnel are left with ambiguous operational and ethical guidelines. The Authors conclude that a sense of proportion about human achievement in extraordinary circumstances encourages realistic views about routine professional capacities, allows for normal human frailties, and thereby contributes to a supportive work environment.