emse232

Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management

Crisis and Emergency Management

October/November 2007 Volume 13 - Number 1/2

Perspectives...

Chertoff; Emergency Management Perspectives
By Nuala Cowan

The mandate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is to reduce the loss of life and property, and to protect the Nation from all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters, by leading and supporting the Nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation (1). The why in the summer of 2005, as little as five months into his new appointment, did United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff announce that preparedness activities would be removed from FEMA and put in a new directorate within the Department of Homeland Security? This proposed annexation of preparedness drew heavy criticism from both emergency managers and certain factions within Congress, who felt that FEMA was already crippled after the formerly independent agency was folded into the department after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks (2). In defense of his action Chertoff remarked that FEMA would now focus on its “historic and vital mission” of response and recovery to disasters.
Negative remarks on the state of federal emergency management flowed anew in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, as many, including the embittered former head of FEMA, Michael Brown, felt that the department had become overly focused on preventing terrorist attacks and had neglected natural disaster response. Chertoff rejected what he called an “attempt to drive a wedge between our concerns about terrorism and our concerns about natural disasters…."(3)
Few will disagree that the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA’s response to Hurricane Katrina was in itself a disaster. The overall effort highlighted how poor management, coupled with weak communication & logistics affected both preparedness and response capabilities (4). Following several months’ evaluation and soul searching, Secretary Chertoff greeted the Emergency Mangers conference in Washington DC (In February 2006) with his reevaluated opinion on the status of federal emergency management. He stated that DHS as an agency needed to refocus, and look once more at prevention, protection, response and recovery as a set of integrated functions rather than single separate stages (5). He admitted that FEMA needed to re-engineer preparedness, and to fill out its senior level ranks with “experienced staff who can deal with all of the elements" of its mission (6). He expressed frustration with a lack of preparedness, and a lack of mechanisms for intergovernmental (federal/state/local) preparedness and coordination. He acknowledged that while the federal government could never replace the experience or expertise at the local level, it had to be better prepared to assume responsibility, when state and local resources become overwhelmed. Chertoff identified three avenues for immediate change. Number 1; complete the integration of a unified incident command at DHS. He stated that incident management has been, and continues to be stove piped, after the creation of DHS. Number 2; improve preparedness; the level of preparedness for Katrina was wholly insufficient. FEMA’s logistics systems were not up to the task of handling a truly catastrophic event. FEMA needs a 21st century logistics management system that will require the establishment of a logistics supply chain, working with other federal agencies in the private sector. Number 3; FEMA has to have a larger dedicated disaster workforce that can respond to the unique challenge of a surge population and that can provide a cadre around which we can build our network of volunteers. Roll on one year, same audience. Secretary Chertoff’s reiterates many of the themes introduced in Washington DC a year earlier. Preparedness, in the form of planning and exercises, was very much at the forefront of the session, an interesting viewpoint from someone who’s “historic and vital mission” (less than 2 years previously) was response and recovery, to the exclusion of preparedness and protection;
“…the name of the game is planning, planning and planning. You always have to improvise, but if your plans are sound, if you have trained to the plan, if you have exercised to the plan, if you've built your capabilities to the plan, then your chances of a successful response, even with the need to adapt to unforeseen circumstances, are much better than if you're trying to build your plan in the middle of the emergency….” (4)

REFERENCES
1.   FEMA Website, About Us Page; http://www.fema.gov/about/index.shtm (Last Accessed 10/29/07)

1.   DHS Website, Press Release; Remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at the National Emergency Management Association Mid-Year Conference Release Date: 02/13/06 00:00:00 Washington, D.C. National Emergency Management Association Mid-Year Conference February 13, 2006 http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/speeches/speech_0268.shtm (Last Accessed 10/29/07)

2.   BBC America, Article; Chertoff defends Katrina response http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4710682.stm (Last Accessed 10/29/07)

3.   Whitehouse Website, Report; The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned http://www.whitehouse.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned.pdf (Last Accessed 10/29/07)

4.   DHS Website, Press Release; Remarks by Secretary Michael Chertoff at the National Emergency Management Association Mid-Year Conference. Release Date: February 12, 2007. Alexandria, Virginia, National Emergency Management Association Mid-Year Conference http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/speeches/sp_1171376113152.shtm (Last Accessed 10/29/07)

5.   Washington Post Website, Article; Chertoff Vows to 'Re-Engineer' Preparedness; Secretary Recognizes Flaws in Hurricane Response but Defends Department, By Spencer S. Hsu (Washington Post Staff Writer) Thursday, October 20, 2005; Page http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/AR2005101901018.html (Last Accessed 10/29/07)

6.   Unites States House of Representatives Website, Report; The State of Homeland Security 2007: Annual Report Card. http://homeland.house.gov/SiteDocuments/20070413143439-12273.pdf (Last Accessed 10/29/07)