The goal of IS-0230.e: Fundamentals of Emergency Management is to introduce you to the fundamental concepts or foundations of emergency management.

This course presents emergency management as an integrated system with resources and capabilities networked together to address all hazards.

This is the first course in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute’s independent study Professional Development Series.

Select this link for more information on the Professional Development Series. 

This course contains eight lessons.

To help you keep track of your place within the course, the current lesson title is displayed in the upper left corner of each screen. In addition, a Lesson List is presented at the beginning and end of each lesson.

The lesson overview states the approximate length of the lesson. The progress bar is displayed in the upper right corner of each content screen to help you gauge your movement through the course.

Throughout our Nation’s history, communities have always bonded together when disaster strikes. Emergency management simply creates a framework to help communities reduce vulnerabilities to threats and hazards and cope with disasters.

Emergency management is an essential role of government. The Constitution tasks the States with responsibility for public health and safety―hence, they are responsible for public risks, while the Federal Government’s ultimate obligation is to help when State, local, or individual entities are overwhelmed.

The overall goals of emergency management at all levels are:

• First, to reduce the loss of life;
• Then, to minimize property loss and damage to the environment;
• And finally, to protect the jurisdiction from all threats and hazards.

We tend to think of emergency management as a relatively new concept. However, the idea of assessing risks and organizing to deal with those risks has been around, in one fashion or another, since humans began forming civilizations.

Our current vision of emergency management has not always been the same as it is today. Rather, it has evolved to reflect our national values and the threats we face.

Today we seek to create a secure and resilient Nation. We have learned that doing so requires that we work together to build and sustain capabilities across the whole community to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk.

There are numerous definitions of emergency management. The definition below is based on the one developed by the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM: https://www.iaem.org/).

Emergency Management: The managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to threats/hazards and cope with disasters.

Integrated emergency management is a key concept adopted by emergency managers in the early 1980s. It embodies an all-threats/hazards approach to the direction, control, and coordination of disasters regardless of their location, size, or complexity, and it goes hand-in-hand with the concept of whole community preparedness.

Integrated emergency management is more than a methodology; it is a culture to achieve unity of effort—a way of thinking about emergency management as a joint enterprise. It is intended to create an organizational culture that is critical to achieving unity of effort between government, members of the community, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.

Emergency management must be integrated into daily decisions, not just during times of disasters.

Now that you understand the overall intent of the emergency management function, let’s take a moment to look at how the system evolved.

Prior to the 1800s, disasters were managed solely with local resources. In December 1802, fire engulfed the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, destroying large areas. This disaster exceeded local capabilities and had a severe impact on commerce for the entire Nation. In response, Congress acted swiftly to pass the Congressional Relief Act of 1803, enabling the Federal Government to be involved in a local disaster.

The next notable era in the evolution of emergency management began with World War II in the 1940s and continued with the Cold War era beginning in the 1950s. During World War II, the Federal Government established civil defense programs, such as air raid warning and emergency shelter systems, to protect the civilian population. The Disaster Relief Act of 1950 gave the President authority to issue disaster declarations that allowed Federal agencies to provide direct assistance to State and local governments.

The Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950 created a nationwide system of civil defense agencies, and defense drills became routine in schools, government agencies, and other organizations. During this era, emergency management was thought of as an extension of the civil defense movement.

In 1952, President Truman issued Executive Order 10427, which emphasized that Federal disaster assistance was intended to supplement, not supplant, the resources of State, local, tribal, and private-sector organizations. Today’s emergency management system supports the premise that disasters are best managed at the lowest possible governmental level, and that Federal assistance supports and does not direct these efforts.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Nation experienced numerous devastating natural disasters. These disasters drew the Nation’s attention away from the civil defense mission to the need for well-coordinated Federal response and recovery operations during natural disasters.

As a result, Congress passed the Disaster Relief Act of 1969. This act created a Federal Coordinating Officer to represent the President in the relief effort. The law was extended as the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, which established the process of Presidential disaster declarations.

To ensure coordination of Federal disaster response and recovery, President Carter’s 1979 Executive order merged many of the separate disaster-related responsibilities into a new Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.

In November 1988, Congress amended the Disaster Relief Act and renamed it the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, often referred to simply as the Stafford Act. The Stafford Act created the system in place today by which a Presidential disaster declaration triggers financial and physical assistance through FEMA.

In order to understand an integrated emergency management system, it is important to first understand how the role of the Federal Government in disaster response has evolved over the past 200 years.

The Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 (SRIA) made changes to the way disaster assistance is delivered under a variety of programs.

A significant change under the SRIA was an amendment to the Stafford Act authorizing tribal governments to request a declaration of an emergency or major disaster without going through the State.

Select this link for additional information about SRIA.

Select this link to access greater detail about the SRIA.

Now that you understand the historical roots of emergency management, we’ll review the current doctrine.

Presidential Policy Directive 8, or PPD-8, describes the Nation’s approach to national preparedness. The National Preparedness Goal is the cornerstone for that approach. The Goal identifies the Nation’s core capabilities required for executing the five mission areas of Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery.

The National Preparedness System is an integrated set of guidance, programs, and processes that enable us to work together to achieve the National Preparedness Goal.

As a Nation, we are most prepared to face threats and hazards when we work together. The National Preparedness System provides the approach, resources, and tools for us to work together toward achieving our goal of a secure and resilient Nation.

The National Preparedness Goal presents an integrated, layered, and whole community approach to preparedness. The Goal, itself, is a result of contributions from the whole community. It recognizes that everyone can contribute to and benefit from national preparedness efforts.

The National Preparedness System is an integrated set of guidance, programs, and processes that enables the whole community to meet the National Preparedness Goal. This System is comprised of the six major components shown in the graphic.

Select this link to learn more about the components.

The National Planning Frameworks explain the role of each mission area in national preparedness and provide the overarching strategy and doctrine for how the whole community builds, sustains, and delivers the core capabilities. As the National Planning Frameworks are implemented in the Nation’s efforts to achieve the highest levels of preparedness, partners across the whole community are encouraged to develop a shared understanding of broad-level strategic implications that can inform critical decisions in building and sustaining capability and capacity. The Frameworks describe how the whole community works together to achieve the National Preparedness Goal.

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a systematic, proactive approach to guide departments and agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work together seamlessly and manage incidents involving all threats and hazards—regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity—in order to reduce loss of life, property and harm to the environment.

The purpose of the NIMS is to provide a common approach for managing incidents. The concepts provide for a flexible but standardized set of incident management practices with emphasis on common principles, a consistent approach to operational structures and supporting mechanisms, and an integrated approach to resource management.

Incidents typically begin and end locally, and they are managed daily at the lowest possible geographical, organizational, and jurisdictional level. There are other instances where success depends on the involvement of multiple jurisdictions, levels of government, functional agencies, and/or emergency-responder disciplines. These instances necessitate effective and efficient coordination across this broad spectrum of organizations and activities. By using NIMS, communities are part of a comprehensive national approach that improves the effectiveness of emergency management and response personnel across the full spectrum of potential threats and hazards (including natural hazards, terrorist activities, and other human-caused disasters) regardless of size or complexity.

EMAP provides States, territories, and local government emergency management programs with a voluntary accreditation process that is intended to encourage examination of strengths and weaknesses of jurisdictions emergency management programs, pursuit of corrective measures, and communication and planning among different sectors of government and the community.

EMAP builds on standards and assessment work by various organizations, adding requirements for documentation and verification that neither standards nor self -assessment alone can provide.

Select this link to view the agreed-upon national standards.

CEM® is a voluntary certification program offered by the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) for individuals in the emergency management profession.

Certification indicates that the individual has the experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively manage a comprehensive emergency management program and improve emergency management capabilities.

This lesson provided information on emergency management principles, systems, and programs. Below are links to get more information.

Acts

• Robert T. Stafford Act
• Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006
• Sandy Recovery Improvement Act 2013
     

Doctrine

• Presidential Policy Directive 8: National Preparedness
• National Preparedness Goal
• National Preparedness System
• National Incident Management System

Emergency Management Programs and Standards

• Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP)
• ASIS International
• British Standards Institution (BSI)
• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
• International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Certified Emergency Manager (CEM®) Program

FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI) Courses:

• IS-700: National Incident Management System, An Introduction
• IS-800: National Response Framework, An Introduction