Protecting communities from natural hazards is increasingly important in the United States. When flooding, seismic events, wildfires, hurricanes, typhoons, and other events strike, buildings and homes must be able to withstand these forces as much as possible. Retrofitting structures is one way to save lives and prevent widespread damage to property and the economy. Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 9 created this Natural Hazard Retrofit Program Toolkit to help state, local, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions shape a retrofit program that meets their specific needs.
The Preliminary Damage Assessment Guide (PDA Guide) — a standard framework for how emergency management officials conduct preliminary damage assessments (PDAs) following a disaster—will be effective starting 1 October 2021.
During 2020, the nation faced unprecedented challenges, including COVID-19 and other concurrent disasters and emergencies, that required coordinated local, regional, and national responses. This inaugural annual report shares how each of the Health Care Readiness Programs was activated in 2020 to build the preparedness and response capabilities of the U.S. health care system.
Key Planning Factors and Considerations for Response to and Recovery From a Chemical Incident is written for response and recovery planners at the regional, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels. A coordinated response and recovery effort will include all levels of government in addition to the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and, potentially, international partners. Planning for a chemical incident requires additional considerations beyond all-hazard preparedness planning, so this document includes strategic and operational issues for consideration when developing response and recovery plans for a chemical incident.
The guide provides best practices for jurisdictions to establish and maintain a private-public partnership (P3) to help coordinate mitigation, response & recovery planning, and preparedness. P3s also increase community resilience.
Millions of miles of pipelines stretch across the United States, transporting hazardous materials through thousands of communities. The National Volunteer Fire Council and the Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration want to help fire departments prepare for pipeline incidents. The Fire Department Pipeline Response Emergency Planning & Preparedness (FD PREPP) Toolkit is a free resource designed to help departments conduct pre-incident planning, increase preparedness, and improve response.
National Incident Management System (NIMS) resource management guidance enables many organizational elements to collaborate and coordinate to systematically manage resources – personnel, teams, facilities, equipment, and supplies. The NIMS Guideline for Resource Management Preparedness supplements the NIMS Resource Management component by providing additional details on processes, best practices, authorities, and tools.
The National Homeland Security Consortium (NHSC), comprised of 22 associations representing state, local, and private-sector professionals responsible for the nation’s security, released their COVID-19 Pandemic After-Action Report. This report looks at the problems and issues throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and provides corresponding recommendations and best practices.
To help the energy industry improve its resilience against cyber risk, the World Economic Forum convened over 40 senior executives to establish a blueprint for evaluating cyber risk across the oil and gas industry. This white paper is the result of their in-depth discussions to illuminate the industry’s best practices and create new solutions for corporate leaders to address cyber risk. It presents six principles to help boards at oil and gas companies govern this risk and strengthen their organization’s cyber resilience.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a critical role in protecting the United States from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and emerging infectious disease threats. FDA ensures that medical countermeasures (MCMs)—including drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tests—to counter these threats are safe, effective, and secure. This report details the FDA's work, including a snapshot of COVID-19 response efforts.
