Ridge Unfurls a Unified National Plan

DISASTER RESPONSE

Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge has unveiled a new unified plan for coordinating a national response to terrorism, natural disasters, or man-made emergencies. Its one-year shakeout period, or preliminary implementation period, is now under way.

The genesis of the plan was a directive issued by President George W. Bush in February 2003. That directive jump-started the development of the National Response Plan and the plan’s implementation scheme: the National Incident Management System, which standardizes training, organization, and communications procedures to synchronize interactions across jurisdictional boundaries.

Ridge says the plan has been one of his “department’s highest priorities.” The plan, he says, ensures “our nation and its federal, state, local, and tribal response communities now have a comprehensive, all-hazards tool for domestic incident management across the spectrum of prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.”

It replaces the myriad of existing federal emergency plans and assigns explicit responsibilities to specific federal agencies for different types of events. For example, the Department of Homeland Security’s Emergency Preparedness & Response Directorate will command the nation’s response to a weapons-of-mass-destruction event. The plan also outlines federal support during incidents to states, cities, and the private sector.

Specific conditions, such as an appeal for help to DHS by another federal agency, trigger execution of the plan. Other triggers include a request by a state for federal help in managing a major disaster or an order by the President.