The new US National Response Framework
The US Department of Homeland Security has launched its National Response Framework, which supersedes its National Response Plan, published in 2004, and more adequately serves as a guide to how the US conducts incident response
The Framework's purpose is to ensure that government executives, private sector, nongovernmental organization leaders, and emergency management practitioners across the nation understand domestic incident response roles, responsibilities and relationships in order to respond more effectively to any type of incident.
The document provides structures for implementing national-level policy and operational coordination for domestic incident response. In this document, incidents include actual or potential emergencies or all-hazard events that range from accidents and natural disasters to actual or potential terrorist attacks. Such incidents range from modest events wholly contained within a single community to others that are catastrophic in nature and national in their scope of consequences.
The Framework is intended for executive leadership and emergency management practitioners at all levels of government, as well as private sector, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
An effective, unified national response requires layered, mutually supporting capabilities, with States having the primary responsibility for public health and welfare of its citizens. Five elemental principles of operation constitute national response doctrine:
• Engaged partnerships
• Tiered response
• Scalable, flexible and adaptable operational capabilities
• Unity of effort through unified command
• Readiness to act
The Framework states that an effective national response requires layered, mutually supporting capabilities. This approach affirms that local communities, tribes and States have primary responsibility for the safety and security of their citizens; that local leaders build the foundation for response and that resilient communities begin with prepared individuals and families.
The Framework contains a section that focuses on the critical importance of planning. The intent is to lay the groundwork to:
• Link planning, preparedness, resource and asset management processes, and data in a virtual environment;
• Prioritize plans and planning efforts to best support homeland security strategies and allow seamless transition to execution; and
• Provide parallel and concurrent planning at all levels of government.
The Emergency Support Functions and Support Annexes have been updated and remain an integral part of the Framework. The Incident Annexes will be revised and released in the near future. These documents are available on-line at www.fema.gov/NRF along with other reference material.
Partner guides are available for local, State, Federal and private sector partners to assist them in applying the Framework's principles for a coordinated, effective National response. Each guide provides a more detailed description of roles and responsibilities; response structures; key actions before, during and after an incident; and ways to request and/or provide assistance. These guides are intended to provide an overview of how these various organizations organize and operate, and how they interact with each other to provide a unified, national response.
The above is taken from the Framework's new website avavailable at www.fema.gov/emergency/nrf
