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

Medical Aspects of Chemical WarfareNational Response FrameworkIn 2008 the NRP will be replaced by National ResponseFramework (NRF), which will guide the nationin incident response. The NRF ensures that governmentexecutives and nongovernment organizations,leaders, emergency management personnel, and theprivate segments across the country understand domesticincident response roles.The NRF provides a structure for implementingnational-level policy and operational coordinationfor domestic incident response. The NRF addressesactual or potential emergencies, hazard events (rangingfrom accidents to natural disasters), and actual orpotential terrorist attacks. These incidents could rangefrom modest events that are contained within a singlecommunity to ones that are catastrophic and createnational consequences.The NRF includes a wider incident audience thanthe NRP, including executive leadership, emergencymanagement personnel at all government levels, andprivate community organizations and other nongovernmentalorganizations. It has expanded the focuson partnership, affirming that an effective nationalresponse requires layered and mutually supportingcapabilities. Local communities, tribes, and states areprimarily responsible for the safety and security oftheir citizens. Therefore local leaders will build thefoundation for response and communities will prepareindividuals and families.The NRF has made many changes to the NRP,including updating the planning section and improvingannexes and appendices. It clarifies the roles andresponsibilities of the principal federal official, federalcoordinating officer, senior federal law enforcement official,and the joint task force commander (Figure 23-2).The NRF describes organizational structures that havebeen developed, tested, and refined that are applicableto all support levels. The response structures are basedon the NIMS and they promote on-the-scene initiativeand resource sharing by all levels of government andprivate sectors. At the field level, local responders usethe incident command structure to manage responseoperations (see Figure 23-2a). There may be a need foran area command structure at this level, which maybe established to assess the agency administrator orexecutive in overseeing the management of multipleincidents (see Figure 23-2b). On-scene incident commandand management organizations are located atan incident command post at the tactical level. Stateemergency operations centers are located where multiagencycoordination can occur and they are configuredto expand as needed to manage state-level events (seeFigure 23-2c).The joint field office is the primary federal incidentmanagement field structure and is composedof multiple agencies. It serves as a temporary facilityfor coordinating federal, state, local, tribal, public,and private agencies responsible for response andrecovery. The joint field office is organized in a mannerconsistent with NIMS principles and is led by theunified coordination group (Figure 23-3). It focuses onproviding support to on-the-scene efforts and supportingoperations beyond the incident site. 13Department of defense roles for Domestic Preparedness and ResponseThe Quadrennial Defense Review Report of 2006outlines new challenges facing the DoD. This reportexamines four priority areas of homeland defenseand protection against WMDs. 14 The DoD has uniquecapabilities and resources that can be used to supporta federal response should an incident occur. Withinthe roles and responsibilities of the NRF, the secretaryof defense, as directed by the president, can authorizedefense support for civil authorities (in the form ofan official request for assistance during a domesticincident). 13 Although the secretary of homeland securityis the principal federal agent during an incident ofnational significance, command and control authorityfor military assets remains within military chains ofcommand.The DoD, through the secretary of defense, has tworoles with respect to domestic preparedness. First, theDoD’s mission is to defend US territory and its interests.Its second role is providing military support tocivilian authorities when directed by the president,who can authorize the military to defend nonDoDassets that are designated as critical. The Strategy forHomeland Defense and Civil Support guides DoD actionin each role. 15 This document builds on several others,including the National Defense Strategy of the UnitedStates of America, 16 the National Strategy for HomelandSecurity, 7 and the National Security Strategy of the UnitedStates of America. 17 The Strategy for Homeland Defenseand Civil Support has several objectives. These includeinterdicting and defeating threats at a safe distance,providing mission assurance, supporting civil authoritiesin CBRNE attacks, and improving capabilitiesfor homeland defense and security. 15 Overall, policyguidance and supervision to homeland defense activitiesare the responsibility of the assistant secretary ofdefense for homeland defense.In the case of an emergency of national significance,the NRP outlines federal department or agencysupport to state or local governments. 12 The actionsof federal agencies are dictated by the Stafford Act758