● Get a copy of your community’s hazard mitigation plan from your local office of emergency management. Create a mitigation plan for yourself that addresses the hazards identified in the community plan as they affect you on a personal level. Determine if there are any hazards that you face as an individual that are not covered by the plan, and describe what mitigation measures you can take or have taken to address those hazards.
● Contact your State’s office of emergency management, and find out what mitigation programs are currently offered. Are they all Federally-funded, or are there any programs funded by the State or other entity? Find out if your local government participates in any of these programs, or if they offer any additional programs funded by other sources. Do you believe that your community is taking advantage of every mitigation program that it is able to, or do you feel more could be done with what is currently offered?
● The Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) has developed a mitigation guide for daycare centers (http://www.ibhs.org/docs/childcare.pdf). Using this guide, assist a daycare center in your community to perform the mitigation techniques suggested in the guide.
99 99
The Disciplines of
Emergency Management:
Response
What You Will Learn
• The roles and responsibilities of local first responders and emergency managers. • How states are involved in emergency management.
• The contribution of volunteer organizations to disaster response efforts. • What the incident command system is, and how it functions.
• The presidential disaster declaration process.
• How the federal government provides assistance in the aftermath of a declared disaster.
• The National Response Plan, its affiliated agencies, and how it functions. • How response agencies communicate with each other.
Introduction
When a disaster event such as a flood, earthquake, or hurricane occurs, the first responders to this event are always local police, fire, and emergency medical personnel. Their job is to rescue and attend to those injured, suppress fires, secure and police the disaster area, and begin the process of restoring order. They are supported in this effort by local emergency management personnel and community government officials.
If the size of the disaster event is so large that the capabilities of local responders are overwhelmed and the costs of the damage inflicted exceeds the capacity of the local govern- ment, the mayor or county executive will turn to the governor and state government for assistance in responding to the event and in helping the community to recover. The gover- nor will turn to the state’s emergency management agency and possibly the state National Guard and other state resources to provide this assistance to the stricken community.
If the governor decides, based on information generated by community and state officials, that the size of the disaster event exceeds the state’s capacity to respond, he or she will make a formal request to the president for a presidential major disaster declaration. This request is prepared by state officials in cooperation with regional staff from FEMA. The governor’s request is analyzed first by the FEMA regional office then forwarded to FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C. FEMA headquarters staff members review and
evaluate the governor’s request and forward their analysis and recommendation to the president. The president considers FEMA’s recommendation then decides to grant the declaration or turn it down.
If the president grants a major disaster declaration, FEMA activates the National Response Plan (NRP) and proceeds to direct 32 federal departments and agencies, includ- ing the American Red Cross, in support of state and local efforts to respond to and recover from the disaster event. The presidential declaration also makes available several disaster assistance programs through FEMA and other federal agencies designed to assist individuals and communities to begin the process of rebuilding their homes, their com- munity infrastructure, and their lives.
When a major disaster strikes in the United States, the aforementioned chronology describes how the most sophisticated and advanced emergency management system in the world responds and begins the recovery process. This system is built on coordina- tion and cooperation among a significant number of federal, state, and local government agencies, volunteer organizations, and more recently, the business community.
In the 1990s, the emergency management system in the United States was tested repeatedly by major disaster events such as the 1993 Midwest floods; the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake; and a series of devastating hurricanes and tornadoes. In each instance, the system worked to bring the full resources of the federal, state, and local governments to produce the most comprehensive and effective response possible. The system also leveraged the capabilities and resources of America’s cadre of volunteer organizations to provide immediate food and shelter. In recent years, government offi- cials and agencies at all levels have begun to reach out to the business community to both leverage their response capabilities and work closer with them in the recovery effort.
The September 11 terrorist attacks caused all levels of government to reevaluate response procedures and protocols. The unusual loss of so many first responders to this disaster event resulted in numerous after-action evaluations that likely will lead to changes in the procedures and protocols for first responders in the future. Additionally, the possibil- ity of future terrorism attacks has focused attention on how best to protect first responders from harm in future attacks. These issues are discussed in detail in Chapter 9.
This chapter describes how local, state, and federal government officials and their partners respond to disasters in this country. The chapter includes sections discussing