Policy frameworks are necessary for institutions to fulfill their goals efficiently and sustainably. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the U.S. government body responsible for coordinating domestic disaster management at a local, state, and federal level. With the purpose of “protect[ing] the American people, the homeland, and the American way of life”, FEMA developed the National Response Framework (NRF) in 2008 (FEMA, 2019, p. 3). It is a unified, flexible, comprehensive approach to all types of national disasters and emergencies. The NRF has five core missions and was most recently tested by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
FEMA has identified the five core functions and capabilities of the NRF that must be accomplished in incident response. These include prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery (FEMA, 2019). The NRF must prevent acts of terrorism and protect the country from both human-made or natural disasters (FEMA, 2019). Loss of life and impact should be reduced by lessening the impact of disasters. Saving lives, stabilizing the community, providing for basic humans needs, and protecting property are the foremost priorities after an emergency has occurred (FEMA, 2019). Finally, it is necessary to assist with restoring and revitalizing impacted communities. The primary functions of the NRF are preventing disasters and helping local communities recover if they occur.
The most recent crisis where the NRF was put into action was the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. On March 19, 2020, six days after President Trump declared a nationwide state of emergency, FEMA began coordinating the Whole-of-Government response to the virus in keeping with the core functions of the NRF (FEMA, 2020). A task force headed by FEMA Administrator focused on critical tasks such as tracking medical equipment and ensuring effective communication channels between different jurisdictions. Supply shortages were relayed from the local level to public health departments and adjudicated by the National Response Coordination Center (FEMA, 2020). Another task force rapidly expanded domestic manufacturing of critical medical supplies such as ventilators to supplement the supply chain and expedite shipping (FEMA, 2020). Alternate Care Facilities were constructed to lessen the burden on hospitals. In general, the existence of overseeing bodies under the NRF allowed FEMA to take swift action and provide critical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, there were certain aspects of FEMA decision-making that attracted criticism. No standard process for the allocation of personal protective equipment (PPE) was developed, and the agency was criticized for failing to ensure stakeholder requests were consistently resolved (Department of Homeland Security, 2021). There were accusations that critical PPE was “seized” or “commandeered” with the intent to resell them at higher price points (FEMA, 2020). Additionally, FEMA failed to update strategic guidance once it became understandable that COVID-19 “outstripped assumptions made in existing policies, plans, and procedures” (Department of Homeland Security, 2021, p. 12). The NRF did not predict the magnitude of a global health pandemic and had no standard, documented procedure for resource allocation.
In conclusion, the National Response Framework is an important guideline for coordinating emergency prevention and recovery at a local, state, and federal level. Its primary functions are the prevention of human-made and natural disasters, as well as the stabilization and restoration of local communities. The most recent application of the NRF was the COVID-19 pandemic, and FEMA successfully managed to provide critical medical resources by adjudicating supply allocation and expanding domestic production. However, the agency attracted criticism for lack of transparency and failing to update its strategic guidance once the scope of the pandemic was understood.
References
Department of Homeland Security. (2021). Lessons learned from FEMA’s initial response to COVID-19. Web.
FEMA. (2019). National Response Framework (4th ed.). Web.
FEMA. (2020). Examining the national response to the worsening coronavirus pandemic. Web.