Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

Medical Aspects of Chemical WarfareFig. 23-1. The National Homeland Security Advisory System.The five threat conditions are outlined in Homeland SecurityPresidential Directive 3.Reproduced from: US Office of Homeland Security. HomelandSecurity Advisory System. Washington, DC: Office ofthe Press Secretary; 2002. Homeland Security PresidentialDirective 3.Management System (NIMS) 10,11 and the NationalResponse Plan (NRP). 12 The NIMS outlines howfederal, state, local, and tribal communities willprevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover fromdomestic incidents. The NRP encompasses the NIMSand provides the structure and operational directionfor the coordinated effort. All federal agencies arerequired to use NIMS in their domestic incident managementand emergency programs. NIMS outlinesa nationwide approach for federal, state, and localgovernments and agencies for use in command andmultiagency coordination systems. It also outlinestraining and plans for resource management, as wellas components that are used to facilitate responsesto domestic incidents. These components includecommand and management, preparedness, resourcemanagement, and communications and informationmanagement. 11The command and management component ofNIMS emphasizes structure (incident command systems)and organization (multiagency coordinationsystems) and has an additional role in informing thepublic of an incident. These systems involve every levelof government, including DoD, with the optimum goalof facilitating management and operations. The overallstructure and template for the command and managementsection outlines a unified command under anincident command and staff. With a unified command,no agency’s legal authority is compromised and a jointeffort across all agencies is achieved.This “national domestic all-hazards preparednessgoal” provides for incident-specific resources. 13 Thepreparedness component of NIMS is made up of activitiesthat include planning, training, exercises, personnelqualification and certification, equipment acquisitionand certification, mutual aid, and publicationsmanagement. This component represents the focus ofmany jurisdictional levels and crosses many agenciesthat are responsible for incident management. 11NIMS unifies incident-management and resourceallocation.Under NIMS, preparedness encompassesthe full range of deliberate and critical activities necessaryto build, sustain, and improve the operationalcapability to prevent, protect against, respond to, andrecover from domestic incidents. Preparedness, in thecontext of an actual or potential incident, involvesactions to enhance readiness and minimize impacts;it includes hazard-mitigation measures to save livesand protect property from the impacts of events suchas terrorism and natural disasters. 12Preparedness requires a well-conceived plan thatencompasses emergency operations plans and procedures.NIMS outlines how personnel, equipment, andresources will be used to support incident management.11 The plan includes all entities and functions thatare critical to incident management, such as prioritiesand the availability of resources. 11,12 NIMS trainingand exercise activities outline multiagency standardcourses that cross both agent-specific and disciplinespecificareas. Exercises focus on all actively participatingjurisdictions and agencies and on disciplines workingand coordinating efforts and optimizing resources.These kinds of exercises allow for improvements builton experience. 11–13The NRP superseded the Federal Response Planand several other earlier plans and provided for amore unified effort. 12 The NRP outlined and integratedthe federal government’s domestic prevention, preparedness,response, and recovery plans across manydisciplines and hazards.756