NCJ Number
190525
Journal
Journal of Homeland Security Dated: August 2001 Pages: 1-12
Date Published
August 2001
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This document examines the defending of America and presents the idea of a National Emergency Management System.
Abstract
The purpose of defending America is to minimize the number of Americans killed or injured by disasters, disease, accidents, and attacks. But it is also to limit disruptions of the delivery of essential services by the infrastructure and limiting damage to society and institutions. The greatest danger to Americans is vulnerability to interruption of essential services – power, water, food, fuel, transportation, information, and trash pickup. Emergencies are events that cause death and injury to people, damage to property, disruption to services, and the degradation of society. There are four kinds of emergencies: disasters, disease, accidents, and attacks. This country has done a good job of managing many kinds of emergencies: disasters, disease, accidents, fires, and crime. Dealing with attacks involves three separate sets of actions: a program to dissuade or deter others from deciding to make an attack; a program to intercept the delivery and prevent the activation of munitions with a lethal agent; and a program to minimize the effects of the lethal agent. The Nation needs a virtual national organization to manage the entire spectrum of emergencies. It has to be virtual in the sense of a loose conglomeration of many different organizations at various levels and types that cooperate to plan, prepare, and respond to emergencies in accordance with common doctrine. The essential elements of the National Emergency Management System are: a focal point in the White House; a coordinating mechanism in the Executive Office of the President; an operational agency to maintain a national plan and coordinate emergency management; and use of federal departments and agencies within their assigned areas of responsibility. Also there should be a single system to deal with State governments, a mechanism for integrating private-sector organizations, and a public awareness program. The National Emergency Management Systems needs to be affordable, acceptable, adequate, and adaptable. 5 endnotes