Disaster Prep & Response Quiz 1

What is the National Preparedness Goal?

- Attempt to move beyond just planning at the federal level - Develop a cohesive system to apply at all levels of government - Focused heavily on terrorism - Complex but generic with little guidance to planners - Lack of correlation with existing standards such as EMAP, DHS model, NFPA 1600, CPG 101

What is the Universal Task List?

- Comprehensive overview of 16,000 tasks - Used as a basis for training and exercise objectives - Pertained to all levels of government (no 1 level to perform all tasks)

What is the Target Capabilities List (TCL)

- Identified 37 core capabilities - Measures for assessing performance - Much of the planning is based on military planning

What are some lessons from history?

1) 1346-1353 Plague (Black Death) - Worst epidemic in human history 2) 1435 Plague - 40 day quarantine, attempted to burn out infection, ceased wool/linen imports 3) 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic - Infected 1/3 world population, prohibited weddings/funerals, closed public congregations, 675,000 US cases 4) 2019 COVID Pandemic - 91 million world cases, 793,000 US cases public congregations closed

What did FEMA begin doing once created?

1) Consolidated federal relief and preparedness programs 2) Source of policy guidelines and repository of expertise 3) Standardized emergency management training

What changes did Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) - 5 (Management of Domestic Incidents) bring?

1) Issued by President Bush in 2003 2) Called for the development of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) 3) Laid out expectations for what elements should comprise the system

What are the 3 pillars of emergency management?

1) Knowledge of history 2) An understanding of the human nature expressed in social sciences 3) Specialized technical training expertise in crisis management

What role did emergency managers play before 9/11?

1) National security (terrorism, nuclear war, etc) 2) Developed ICS as a field operating structure

How did emergency management change after 9/11?

1) New players came into the game 2) These new players did not understand the "comprehensive emergency management" concept 3) EMs were sidelined as terrorismwas considered a Law Enforcement and Homeland Security issue 4) Concern among EMs that grants would be reduced of eliminated

What benefits did the Red Cross bring with its creation in 1881?

1) Organizational structure with the ability to provide relief effectively 2) Knowledge base of relief when/where

Emergency

Foreseen but predictable, narrow-scope incident that occurs regularly

Catastrophe

Large in scope, produces very high levels of damage and social disruption, interrupts community and lifeline services

Who was the "original emergency manager"?

Noah from Noah's Ark

Who was originally responsible for disaster relief in the 19-20th centuries?

The military (US Army)

Why was Hurricane Katrina a failed response?

- Such a heavy focus on terrorism since 9/11 with the thinking that "if you're prepared fir terrorism you're prepared for anything" - First responders not equipped to manage this disaster - Coordination and not command became paramount - Mayor refused to order mandatory evacuations until 24 hrs before landfall - New Orleans super-dome and convention center conditions were unacceptable

What did the 1978 report from the National Governors Association produce?

1) "Comprehensive emergency management" concept (all-hazards approach) 2) 4-phase model (mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery)

Key points of "Comprehensive Emergency Management"

1) Basis of a national strategy (adopted by FEMA) 2) Broad enough to encompass national security requirements and natural hazards concerns 3) Planners must consider all the potential hazards 4) EMs became more educated across broad spectrum 5) Specialized body of technical knowledge of EM began to emerge

What sort of disaster legislation emerged in the 20th century?

1) Civil Defense Bureaucracy 2) Legislation providing relief funding 3) Saw a trend from military to civilian leadership operations 4) Growth of government intended to administer relief

What were the National Response Scenarios used for?

1) Developed a Universal Task List (UTL) 2) Developed the Target Capabilities List (TCL)

Why was the use of civilian commissioners problematic?

1) Granted board power with little guidance on how to determine eligibility of relief 2) Mostly administrative with limited economic compensation

What are key features of the National Response Framework?

1) Provided overall principles, roles, and structures for all-hazards 2) Continued to link the National Preparedness Scenarios via the National Preparedness Guidelines 3) Served as the basic plan supplemented by ESFs

Why did NIMS fail during Hurricane Katrina?

1) Qualitative differences that emerge as one approaches the crisis 2) Increasing complexity that must be managed by non-hierarchical organization 3) Methodology used for coordinating response as opposed to commanding response

How was the National Response Plan changed after Katrina?

1) Revised in 2006 to incorporate lessons learned from Katrina 2) Revised in 2008 and reissued as the National Response Framework 3) Other revisions in 2013 and 2016

What are the key features of the Earthquakes Hazards Reduction Act of 1977?

1) Strategic plan that laid out broad responsibilities for federal agencies 2) Based on regional plan development of a subcommittee chaired by FEMA 3) Incorporated new organizational structure that coordinated response by function (later called Emergency Support Functions) 4) There was no preexisting template for an operational plan being implemented by multiple federal agencies 5) Called for decentralized response (primary agencies had authority to implement assignments w/o waiting for approval of Federal Coordinating Officer)

How did 9/11 change emergency management?

1) US concern over terrorism began 2) Required new approaches and new mechanisms of national security 3) 50 years of EM experience and research changed ("the world has changed") *The Stafford Act had been amended in Feb. 2001 to include terrorism and the concept of Homeland Security was introduced in March 2001

What are the benefits of studying historical disasters?

1) What could happen in a community? 2) identify hazards that are foreseeable 3) Provide long-rang view of potential hazards 4) Examples of social impacts 5) Provide examples of cascading events 6) Focusing events

What is the earliest examples of disasters legislation?

1790 cargo ship fire - remission of customs duties 1802 Portsmith, NH- fire destroyed business district 1835 The Great Fire of New York - burned over 50 acres 1866 Civil War reconstruction- mass starvation

Cascading Events

Creates ripple effect which triggers additional disasters to area unaffected (ex: 2011 Japan Earthquake; Tsunami -> Nuclear Power Plant meltdown)

Why was the amendment to the Stafford Act important?

It allowed terrorism disasters to be responded to under the Stafford Act (Ex: 1992 Rodney King Riots - FEMA responded to the fires but not to the riot itself. The amendment would change this)

Public Policy Context

Policy Formation - planning and info gathering Policy Adoption - approval of 1+ of the options by an authority Policy Implementation - actual execution of the policy Policy Evaluation - determining the effectiveness of the policy

Disaster

Sudden onset occasions, seriously disrupt social routines, more rare than emergencies

What was the first national response plan?

The Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977

What is the DHS capabilities-based planning model? (The "down in the weeds" mind-set of DHS)

The National Planning Scenarios (15 of them, primarily focused on terrorism)

How was the conflict between the Red Cross and the military resolved?

The US Army would oversee autonomy, Red Cross would oversee relief operations but would have no authority over military

Focusing Events

Unexpected events of such consequences that frequently result in significant changes to public policy