Emergency Management Preparedness Standards: Overview and Options for Congress

Abstract

The report issued by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also referred to as the "9/11 Commission") identifies emergency response gaps evident after the attacks of September 11, 2001. While heroic actions that day saved thousands of people, many lives were lost, in part because standard procedures were not in place, or were not followed, and standardized technologies were not used by participating agencies. To correct these deficiencies, the 9/11 Commission report includes recommendations that emergency response standards be adopted nationwide. The report includes three recommendations that focus on emergency response standards: (1) the adoption and use of emergency response standards for incident command, (2) mutual aid provisions concerning liability and indemnification of responders, and (3) private sector preparedness. Through enactment of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-458) Congress addressed these recommendations. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security has taken action to establish standards to improve emergency response capabilities. General agreement appears to exist on the intent of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations in this policy area -- improvement of the nation's emergency response capabilities. During the 109th Congress, the policy debate might be extended to include discussion of the implications and consequences of adopting the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and implementing federal standards. This report presents background information on the commission's findings, on emergency response standards, and on options Congress might consider to address issues related to emergency preparedness standards. This report will be updated as legislative developments and administrative actions warrant.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 04, 2005
Accession Number
ADA454043

Entities

People

  • Keith Bea

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Congress
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Disaster Management
  • Disasters
  • Emergency Response
  • Employment
  • First Responders
  • Governments
  • Homeland Security
  • Law
  • National Governments
  • Personnel Management
  • Public Administration
  • Public Policy
  • Standards
  • United States

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Emergency Management and Homeland Security.