Week #1 Written Assignment – The Historical Context of Emergency Management

The National Governor’s Association was created by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 so that he could stay in contact with the state’s governors on natural resource and other issues. By 1977 their primary concern was the federal government’s over-emphasis on emergency preparedness related to nuclear attack and Civil Defense and not as they stated, “the lack of a comprehensive emergency policy for managing natural, man-made, and attack emergencies”.

They formed the Subcommittee on Disaster Assistance to analyze and make recommendations about the state’s problems in managing all emergencies including the need for a new federal agency. The subcommittee first released the “1978 Emergency Preparedness Project-Final Report (State Comprehensive Emergency Management) and in 1979 published the “Comprehensive Emergency Management – A Governor’s Guide” which is your reading this week.

The work the Association did change the approach to emergency management and the creation of the FEMA remains their most significant accomplishment to date. If you are interested in knowing more about the NGA just visit: https://www.nga.org/ (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)

In the NGA Governor’s Guide reading this week you will get a historical perspective how the practice of emergency management has evolved over the last 40+ years to the general model we adhere to today. As you will learn from the lecture PPT, the former phases have been replaced with the newest doctrine we will cover this semester. The NGA was the catalyst for a shift in funding investments for the states from the Cold War and civil defense emphasis to one of all hazards and later homeland security related to terrorism. With few exceptions much of the 1979 NGA roadmap is followed today in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from events of all types.

 

  1. Current Emergency Management in the United States 1

Federal Emergency Programs                                                                2

State Emergency Management, 1978                                                    3

 

  1. What Is Comprehensive Emergency Management? 11

Types of Emergencies                                                                            12

Emergency Management Phases                                                            12

Federal-State-Local Partnership                                                            13

Organizational Involvement in Varied Types of Emergencies              15

 

  1. Role of the Governor in Comprehensive Emergency Management 27

The Governor’s Policy                                                                           28

Establishing a CEM Program                                                                 31

Appointing a Comprehensive Emergency Manager                              33

 

  1. Monitoring Comprehensive Emergency Management 35

The Governor’s Report                                                                          36

Annual CEM Evaluation                                                                       37

 

  1. Obtaining Federal Assistance in Emergencies 43

Accuracy                                                                                                43

Timing                                                                                                    44

Gauging                                                                                                 45

Communications                                                                                    46

 

  1. Summary 49

Appendix A:     NGA Comprehensive Emergency Management Policy                              51

Appendix B:     The Governor’s Emergency Report                                                            55