Mankind has been faced with varying levels of disaster, and many responsive tactics have been developed, especially in the United States. Virtually all emergency incidences require skilled responses if they are to be put under control. This essay seeks to offer a summary of disciplines that are established under FEMA to ensure preparedness in emergency management.
A comprehensive academic curriculum has been developed in most of the key areas like medical services, terrorism, fire control, and performing and information management services. FEMA also provides other educational and training resources for general use in most institutions (200). Development of the plan and training of personnel according to the plan would not be complete without exercising the entire plan.
This is with the intention of testing the systems, facilities, and evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency in the implementation of the plan. Exercises can be defined as controlled, situational, and well-designed experiences that can be used to demonstrate and evaluate a given organization’s capability to meet the challenges outlined in its contingency plan (200). There are four main types of exercises; full scale, partial scale, functional, and tabletop.
Full-scale exercises are the most comprehensive since the entire organization’s plan is evaluated as compared to the partial scale exercises where the objectives of the evaluation are limited. Functional exercises seek to evaluate procedures within similar categories. Tabletop exercises, on the other hand, usually involve key management of an organization and the evaluation is strictly controlled by a facilitator since specific areas are evaluated (201).
Furthermore, there are several categories of a comprehensive exercise program. They include; state and local all-hazard exercises which addresses natural, technological, and human-made disasters, FEMA-sponsored FPR exercises, legislative mandated exercises supported by FEMA which concerns itself with plans under the federal government, the FEMA-supported national and international security exercises whose scope is on national as well as international security exercises, and special and extraordinary event exercises sponsored or supported by FEMA which is mainly concerned with the evaluation of electronic media and different terrorism approaches (202).
The Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) keeps vigilance for any possible acts of terrorism in the United States of America. It is in charge of the provision of training, funds for the purchase of equipment, support for planning and execution of exercises, technical assistance, and other necessary support services to the states and jurisdictions in order to prevent, plan for, and respond to acts of terrorism (203).
The training offered by ODP is geared towards enabling states and local jurisdictions to prevent, deter, and respond safely and effectively to incidents of terrorism, especially concerning weapons of mass destruction(203). The Training and Data Exchange (TRADE) component of ODP is responsible for the validation process and has got several agencies. Moreover, the equipment section ensures constant availability of equipment for use during moments of terrorist attack, a lesson learned from the September 11, 2001 attack.
There are also several programs under training assistance being developed within the ODP that helps states and local jurisdictions to fight terrorism. Furthermore, the major goal for ODP is to assist states, cities, towns, and villages gain an assessment of their ability to prevent or respond to and recover from a disaster so that modifications or prior enhancements can be made before the occurrence of actual incidences (205).
Grant programs from the ODP are aimed at providing the funds necessary to enhance state and the capacity of local jurisdictions to prevent, respond to, as well as the ability to recover from the various incidents of terrorism (206). This program has clear financial estimates needed for each task (207).
The essay has summarized key areas of operation as far as emergency management and preparedness is concerned which can be found under FEMA. It has highlighted the four types of exercises, the roles of ODP which include; training programs, the supply of equipment, and funding. We can, therefore, conclude that the United States has well-developed mechanisms for preventing, responding to, and or recovering from incidences of terrorist attacks.
Work cited
FEMA Comprehensive Exercise Program. The Disciplines of Emergency Management: Preparedness. 1995, 200-207.