Editor's Note: This is part two of a two-part series on the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina and lessons learned.
On page 94 of the Federal Response Report, titled “Critical Challenge: Integrated Use of Military Capabilities,” there are 10 recommendations addressing what I believe is a broadened role for DOD. It specifically states in recommendation 22: “DOD and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should develop recommendations for revision of the National Response Plan (NRP) to delineate the circumstances, objectives, and limitations of when DOD might temporarily assume the lead for the federal response to a catastrophic incident”.
More disturbing is recommendation 23, which states: “DOD should revise its Immediate Response Authority (IRA) policy to allow commanders, in appropriate circumstances, to exercise IRA even without a request from local authorities.”
Now I’ve responded to the Oklahoma City bombing and the World Trade Center terrorist attacks and have seen first hand how we as a nation have reevaluated our civil liberties in the name of security. It now appears we are bordering on changing specific laws, and even the Constitution, to possibly move the military from its primary role in support of National Disaster Response into a new leadership role.
The primary selling point of this concept seems to be the superior ability of the military to provide command and control, as well as logistics and planning, for large-scale events. It’s hard to argue that, so I won’t, but what seems to have been missed is that in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the U.S. Forest Service and California Fire Service stole those military concepts and created the Incident Command System (ICS), which has now spread across the United States and is outlined in the NRP and under the National Incident Management Systems (NIMS).
A key element to the California system has been the “typing” of resources, which has been standardized across the state. It is being adopted now and will soon be implemented under NIMS as well. Bottom line, Any fire field commander with a small FOG (Field Operations Guide) will soon be able to order typed resources through the system. Now that’s power.
The last piece of the puzzle is under development and it is long overdue. On March 3 the NIMS Integration Center, working in conjunction with the International Association of Fire Chiefs, announced it would launch an Intrastate Mutual Aid Project; in other words, a National Mutual Aid System.
Is it too little, too late? It’s hard to say, but we have to start somewhere. The last figure I saw regarding the actual number of paid and volunteer firefighters in this country was just around 1.7 million uniformed personnel. Add in EMS, law enforcement, public works and the private sector and we may yet develop a real, robust National Mutual Aid System. One that works seamlessly with our partners in DOD, supporting local responders, and respecting civil authority by integrating under their Immediate Response Authority, and NOT attempting to take over control.
The successful response to Hurricane Katrina couldn’t have happened without the primary actions of local responders, volunteers, state and federal resources, and the military. No one did it alone; we all did it together. And marginalizing any entity or agency only serves to further create dysfunctional relationships which could further divert us from what should be our primary goal: One System – One Response!
Click here to read Part 1
