The National Response Framework is a guide to prevent, prepare for, respond to, recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. It is built on scalable, flexible, and adaptable concepts identified in the National Incident Management System to align key roles and responsibilities across the nation. The NRF describes how local, states, the federal government and private-sector and nongovernmental partners apply these principles for an effective emergency response. The NRF also describes special circumstances where the federal government plays a larger role, including incidents where federal interests are involved and catastrophic incidents where a state would require significant support. The NRF allows first responders, …show more content…
First, if responders do not understand their roles in the framework then everyone is going to be confused on what to do. Once a plan is put forward, there should be training given to all response agencies just in case an event occurs. There should be no reason why anyone is confused on what they are supposed to do during an emergency. Another way the NRF can fail is if different agencies do not communicate with each other. If the local, state, regional and the federal government do not communicate with each other properly, then recovery is not possible. The local response team is usually the first one the scene, they have to be the ones who reach out to the state, regional and federal agencies if they believe that they need their help. At this point all agencies need to come together as a unit and help the people in need. There should also be an agency in full command so that responders understand the chain of command. Lastly, if there are not enough resources to recover from an emergency then no matter what the plan will fail. For example, medical supplies are important to any recovery. If there is not enough to go around, there would be a large number of deaths after the
Hurricane Katrina shift the position of the Department of Homeland Security from making natural disasters an equally as important as terrorism. This even showed that disaster planning requires a great deal of collaboration. The Department of Homeland Security who swallowed up FEMA where not quick to react to Hurricane Katrina because all their focus was spend on planning for a prevent terrorist attacks. The failure of the disaster response system resulted in over 1,200 lives lost in Louisiana and Mississippi. FEMA failed to work closely with its State and local counterparts and communications between these partners and the public were strained at best.
They are also involved in emergency relief efforts providing security, medical supplies, and humanitarian
Reduce the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and key resources, essential leadership, and major events to terrorist attacks and other hazards. Provide grants, plans and training to our homeland security and law enforcement partners. We have taken significant steps to create a unified and integrated Department that will enhance our performance by focusing on accountability, efficiency, transparency and leadership development. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was the final weak link in the then-existing confusing chain of command. FEMA 's head, Wallace E. Stickney, had no apparent experience in emergency management or disaster response (Franklin, D. 1995).
The NIMS provides assistance to each state, which allows them to be prepared for any possible emergency. The five components of NIMS provided a guideline that is used throughout an emergency whether it be Federal departments, State, tribal, and local organizations. Establish a system and being able to provide possible issues that may arise and analyzed the challenges. The national integration center (NIC) ensures that the NIMS is operating at optimal level, that all training, resources, and communicating system are being meet; the NIC provides an assessment NIMS and ensures that each component is filing it responsibility. NIMS is an ideal system that was developed to respond universally to emergencies and the check and balances installed into
Stage two entails being prepared and planning. All communities should have a handbook that indicates who has the authority, communication, control, coordination of personnel, supplies, evacuation, rescue and care of the dead (Nies & McEwen, 2015. The nurse can work collaboratively with the emergency authorities to ensure tornado warnings broadcasted and safety measures implemented. The community nurse’s role is to prioritize the most vulnerable groups such as the older crowd, the homeless, individuals with disabilities, the sick and the poor so that they are evacuated to a safe area, followed by public. Stage three is the response stage and the most critical phase of the disaster.
Furthermore, the utilization of response to address life safety, incident stabilization, property preservation and social-economic impacts continue to play a role in emergency response lessons learned taught today. Response Comparison: Hurricane Katrina
Introduction This informational interview was conducted with Dr. Pamela Aaltonen, a Homeland Security instructor at Purdue University, and active member at the Tippecanoe Board of Health. Her role here is to frame issues in the concept of Homeland security and emergency management. Dr. Aaltonen holds a key role in Homeland Security, as many disasters contain human health issues, such as mass causalities, pandemic outbreaks, and sanitary issues following natural disasters. Dr. Aaltonen’s flavor of Homeland Security differs from the work that I normally see, but as displayed during the interview, Homeland Security is a multi-disciplinary field that requires cooperation across all fields.
More and more authorities continue to be taken away and have been spread across many agencies within DHS. “FEMA no longer manages a comprehensive emergency management program of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and the agency function that President Carter and the Governors envisioned in 1979 no longer exists” (FEMA, 2013). The sole focus has turned to terrorism disaster preparedness and FEMA has become somewhat dismantled and lost its ability to provide the command and control that it had prior to the move to DHS. This will prove to be a major flaw and will again, show the failure of FEMA in the next occurrence of natural disaster the United States faces. There are other agencies within the DHS that need to be scrutinized as
In Katrina’s Wake: National Guidance Throughout the history of the United States Military, historians recorded the heroic actions of Soldiers, Airman, Sailors, and Marines that won countless battles in various conflicts around the world. In modern times, the role of the military changed drastically, especially in regards to the military’s role within natural disasters. Therefore, a National Guidance of Preparedness was developed, which reinforces response readiness and provides guidelines for the sharing of responsibility between all levels of government. After a review of the actions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2006, federal, state, and local governments aided in the development of the guidelines, which shape and support preparedness
The Division includes the Office of Emergency Management, the Office of Preparedness, and the Office of Prevention and Security (State of Colorado, 2015). Its mission, vision, and values are to "prevent, protect, mitigate, respond and recover from all-hazards" through the development of a comprehensive Strategic Plan in synchronization with the DHS (State of Colorado, 2015, p.1). The State of Colorado has its own unique concerns it must address. Colorado Concerns and Threats Critical
Short Paper 2 HLSS322 Justin Chatman 16 July 2023 The Federal Emergency Management Agency was created by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 by way of Executive Order. It was responsible for civil defense and response to chemical, biological, and nuclear attacks. This responsibility also encapsulated federal disaster relief responses to natural disasters such as flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, and hazardous material incidents. Over the years, FEMA has grown in scope through various Executive Orders.
Emergency management describes the process of preparing for disasters, responding to their occurrence and putting in place both structural and nonstructural measures to mitigate against them. Emergency management has come a long way in terms of evolution in the United States of America. In terms of evolution, there have been a number of changes with evidence in shift from state to federal and local involvement in disaster management. This paper will thus discuss the evolution of emergency management as well as the lessons that have come as a result of this evolution. The evolution can be traced back to the biblical times, Moses himself tried to manage floods by splitting the Red Sea (George et al, p. 1).
Incident command system refers to a comprehensive system that is developed to help responders to form an intricate system that meets the demands of a single or multiple incidents (Carmicheal, 2010). The goal is to avoid confusion and increase efficiency in handling all the activities within the shortest time possible. The current scenario is characterized by a severe natural disaster that has hit the community of Edenton. Extensive damages are being reported from the multiple points in the city, which means the responders should form a team that can handle each point.
The Stafford Act was enacted in 1988 and determines how and when the federal government is allowed to intervene in a natural disaster. It also defines the type of assistance to be provided as well as the distribution of funds among the federal, state and local governments. FEMA is responsible for coordinating the assistance identified in the Stafford Act. However, FEMA has to answer to the Secretary of Homeland Security rather than making their own decisions. The authors describe how our current governmental system isn’t well equipped to deal with major devastation such as Hurricane Katrina.
FEMA’s mission and priorities were changed so that, “terrorism prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery became central to the emergency management mission” (Haddow 325). As a result of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 the country’s focus shifted completely from natural disasters to an outright major assault on all things terrorism with no second glance at the potential emergency’s natural disasters presented. There might be a possibility that because of the nation’s extreme obsession with terrorists and terrorism that Hurricane Katrina was not given full priority nor given as much thought as it should have been because the whole focus of the government was on terrorism. When an agency and governmental structure, such as the defense agencies, undergoes an extreme shift within the course of a few years brought on so suddenly, there are bound to be weaknesses. Hurricane Katrina was the most challenging threat that tested the DHS as well as FEMA’s preparation and mitigation of natural disasters since the shift of focus.