National Preparedness Goal: Building Community Resilience to Disasters and Threats, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Public Health

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National Preparedness

Goal

Second Edition

September 2015

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I n t r o d u c t i o n

Preparedness is the shared responsibility of our entire nation. The whole community contributes,

beginning with individuals and communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based

organizations, and all governments (local, regional/metropolitan, state, tribal^1 , territorial, insular

area^2 , and Federal). This second edition of the National Preparedness Goal reflects the insights

and lessons learned from four years of real world events and implementation of the National

Preparedness System.^3

We describe our security and resilience posture through the core capabilities (see Table 1) that

are necessary to deal with the risks we face. We use an integrated, layered, and all-of-Nation

approach as our foundation for building and sustaining core capabilities and preparing to deliver

them effectively. The National Preparedness Goal is:

A secure and resilient Nation with the capabilities required across the whole community to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk.

Using the core capabilities, we achieve the National Preparedness Goal by:

 Preventing, avoiding, or stopping a threatened or an actual act of terrorism.

 Protecting our citizens, residents, visitors, assets, systems, and networks against the greatest

threats and hazards in a manner that allows our interests, aspirations, and way of life to

thrive.

 Mitigating the loss of life and property by lessening the impact of future disasters.

 Responding quickly to save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic

human needs in the aftermath of an incident.

 Recovering through a focus on the timely restoration, strengthening, and revitalization of

infrastructure, housing, and the economy, as well as the health, social, cultural, historic, and

environmental fabric of communities affected by an incident.

The core capabilities contained in the Goal are the distinct critical elements necessary for our

success. They are highly interdependent and require us to use existing preparedness networks

and activities, coordinate and unify efforts, improve training and exercise programs, promote

innovation, leverage and enhance our science and technology capacity, and ensure that

administrative, finance, and logistics systems are in place to support these capabilities. The core

capabilities serve as both preparedness tools and a means of structured implementation. All

manner of incidents across the whole community have proven the usefulness of the core

capabilities and the coordinating structures that sustain and deliver them. These range from

(^1) The Federal Government recognizes that the tribal right of self-government flows from the inherent sovereignty of

American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes as nations and that federally recognized tribes have a unique and direct relationship with the Federal Government. (^2) Per the Stafford Act, insular areas include Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American

Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Other statutes or departments and agencies may define the term insular area differently. (^3) The National Preparedness System outlines an organized process for the whole community to move forward with

its preparedness activities and achieve the National Preparedness Goal.

C o r e C a p a b i l i t i e s

O ve r vi ew

Core capabilities are essential for the execution of each of the five mission areas: Prevention,

Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery (see Table 1). The core capabilities are not

exclusive to any single government or organization, but rather require the combined efforts of

the whole community.

Table 1: Core Capabilities by Mission Area^6

Prevention Protection Mitigation Response Recovery

Planning

Public Information and Warning

Operational Coordination

Intelligence and Information Sharing Community Resilience

Long-term Vulnerability Reduction

Risk and Disaster Resilience Assessment

Threats and Hazards Identification

Infrastructure Systems

Interdiction and Disruption (^) Critical Transportation

Environmental Response/Health and Safety

Fatality Management Services

Fire Management and Suppression

Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Mass Care Services

Mass Search and Rescue Operations

On-scene Security, Protection, and Law Enforcement

Operational Communications

Public Health, Healthcare, and Emergency Medical Services

Situational Assessment

Economic Recovery

Health and Social Services

Housing

Natural and Cultural Resources

Screening, Search, and Detection

Forensics and Attribution

Access Control and Identity Verification

Cybersecurity

Physical Protective Measures

Risk Management for Protection Programs and Activities

Supply Chain Integrity and Security

(^6) Planning, Public Information and Warning, and Operational Coordination are common to all mission areas.

These five mission areas serve as an aid in organizing our national preparedness activities and

enabling integration and coordination across core capabilities. The mission areas are interrelated

and require collaboration in order to be effective. The National Planning Frameworks and

Federal Interagency Operational Plans expand on these relationships, to include how the mission

areas and core capabilities are used to achieve the goal of a secure and resilient nation.

Three core capabilities: Planning, Public Information and Warning, and Operational

Coordination span all five mission areas. They serve to unify the mission areas and, in many

ways, are necessary for the success of the remaining core capabilities. Additionally, a number of

core capabilities directly involve more than one mission area and are listed in each mission area

as appropriate.

The core capabilities, like the risks we face, are not static. They will be vetted and refined, taking

into consideration the evolving risk and, changing resource requirements. Further, there is an

expectation that each of the core capabilities will leverage advances in science and technology

and be improved through post-event evaluation and assessment.

R i s k an d t h e Co re C ap ab i l i ti e s

Understanding the greatest risks to the Nation’s security and resilience is a critical step in

identifying the core capabilities. All levels of government and the whole community should

assess and present risk in a similar manner to provide a common understanding of the threats and

hazards confronting our Nation. The information gathered during a risk assessment also enables

a prioritization of preparedness efforts and an ability to identify our capability requirements

across the whole community.

The Strategic National Risk Assessment indicates that a wide range of threats and hazards

continue to pose a significant risk to the Nation, affirming the need for an all-hazards, capability-

based approach to preparedness planning. Key findings include:

 Natural hazards, including hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, droughts, wildfires, winter

storms, and floods, present a significant and varied risk across the country. Climate change

has the potential to cause the consequence of weather-related hazards to become more severe.

 A virulent strain of pandemic influenza could kill hundreds of thousands of Americans, affect

millions more, and result in economic loss. Additional human and animal infectious diseases,

including those undiscovered, may present significant risks.

 Technological and accidental hazards, such as transportation system failures, dam failures,

chemical spills or releases, have the potential to cause extensive fatalities and severe

economic impacts. In addition, these hazards may increase due to aging infrastructure.

 Terrorist organizations or affiliates may seek to acquire, build, and use weapons of mass

destruction (WMD). Conventional terrorist attacks, including those by “lone actors”

employing physical threats such as explosives and armed attacks, present a continued risk to

the Nation.

 Cyber-attacks can have catastrophic consequences, which in turn, can lead to other hazards,

such as power grid failures or financial system failures. These cascading hazards increase the

potential impact of cyber incidents. Cybersecurity threats exploit the increased complexity

partners, and the private sector. We will foster a rapid, coordinated, all-of-Nation, effective

terrorism prevention effort that reflects the full range of capabilities critical to avoid, prevent, or

stop a threatened or actual act of terrorism in the homeland.

The Prevention mission area relies on ongoing support activities from across all mission areas

that prepare the whole community to execute the core capabilities for preventing an imminent

terrorist threat. These activities include information sharing efforts that directly support local

communities in preventing terrorism and other activities that are precursors or indicators of

terrorist activity and violent extremism.

Table 2 defines and details the Prevention core capabilities and the preliminary targets

associated with each.

Table 2: Prevention Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Prevention Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Planning

Conduct a systematic process engaging the whole community as appropriate in the development of executable strategic, operational, and/or tactical-level approaches to meet defined objectives.

1. Identify critical objectives during the planning process, provide a complete and integrated picture of the sequence and scope of the tasks to achieve the objectives, and ensure the objectives are implementable within the time frame contemplated within the plan using available resources for prevention-related plans.
2. Develop and execute appropriate courses of action in coordination with local, state, tribal, territorial, Federal, and private sector entities in order to prevent an imminent terrorist attack within the United States.

Public Information and Warning

1. Share prompt and actionable messages, to include National Terrorism Advisory System alerts, with the public and other stakeholders, as appropriate, to aid in the prevention of imminent or follow-on terrorist attacks, consistent with the timelines specified by existing processes and protocols.
2. Provide public awareness information to inform the general public on how to identify and provide terrorism-related information to the appropriate law enforcement authorities, thereby enabling the public to act as a force multiplier in the prevention of imminent or follow-on acts of terrorism.

Operational Coordination

Establish and maintain a unified and coordinated operational structure and process that appropriately integrates all critical stakeholders and supports the execution of core capabilities.

1. Execute operations with functional and integrated communications among appropriate entities to prevent initial or follow-on terrorist attacks within the United States in accordance with established protocols.

Deliver coordinated, prompt, reliable, and actionable information to the whole community through the use of clear, consistent, accessible, and culturally and linguistically appropriate methods to effectively relay information regarding any threat or hazard, as well as the actions being taken and the assistance being made available, as appropriate.

Prevention Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Forensics and Attribution

1. Prioritize physical evidence collection and analysis to assist in preventing initial or follow-on terrorist acts.
2. Prioritize chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) material (bulk and trace) collection and analysis to assist in preventing initial or follow-on terrorist acts.
3. Prioritize biometric collection and analysis to assist in preventing initial or follow-on terrorist acts.
4. Prioritize digital media, network exploitation, and cyber technical analysis to assist in preventing initial or follow-on terrorist acts.

Intelligence and Information Sharing

1. Anticipate and identify emerging and/or imminent threats through the intelligence cycle.
2. Share relevant, timely, and actionable information and analysis with local, state, tribal, territorial, Federal, private sector, and international partners and develop and disseminate appropriate classified/unclassified products.
3. Ensure local, state, tribal, territorial, Federal, and private sector partners possess or have access to a mechanism to submit terrorism-related information and/or suspicious activity reports to law enforcement.

Interdiction and Disruption

Delay, divert, intercept, halt, apprehend, or secure threats and/or hazards.

1. Maximize our ability to interdict specific conveyances, cargo, and persons associated with an imminent terrorist threat or act in the land, air, and maritime domains to prevent entry into the United States or to prevent an incident from occurring in the Nation.
2. Conduct operations to render safe and dispose of CBRNE hazards in multiple locations and in all environments, consistent with established protocols.
3. Prevent terrorism financial/material support from reaching its target, consistent with established protocols.
4. Prevent terrorist acquisition of and the transfer of CBRNE materials, precursors, and related technology, consistent with established protocols.
5. Conduct tactical counterterrorism operations in multiple locations and in all environments, consistent with established protocols.

Conduct forensic analysis and attribute terrorist acts (including the means and methods of terrorism) to their source, to include forensic analysis as well as attribution for an attack and for the preparation for an attack in an effort to prevent initial or follow-on acts and/or swiftly develop counter-options.

Provide timely, accurate, and actionable information resulting from the planning, direction, collection, exploitation, processing, analysis, production, dissemination, evaluation, and feedback of available information concerning physical and cyber threats to the United States, its people, property, or interests; the development, proliferation, or use of WMDs; or any other matter bearing on U.S. national or homeland security by local, state, tribal, territorial, Federal, and other stakeholders. Information sharing is the ability to exchange intelligence, information, data, or knowledge among government or private sector entities, as appropriate.

Protection Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Operational Coordination

1. Establish and maintain partnership structures among Protection elements to support networking, planning, and coordination.

Access Control and Identity Verification

Apply and support necessary physical, technological, and cyber measures to control admittance to critical locations and systems.

1. Implement and maintain protocols to verify identity and authorize, grant, or deny physical and cyber access to specific locations, information, and networks.

Cybersecurity

Protect (and, if needed, restore) electronic communications systems, information, and services from damage, unauthorized use, and exploitation.

1. Implement risk-informed guidelines, regulations, and standards to ensure the security, reliability, integrity, and availability of critical information, records, and communications systems and services through collaborative cybersecurity initiatives and efforts.
2. Implement and maintain procedures to detect malicious activity and to conduct technical and investigative-based countermeasures, mitigations, and operations against malicious actors to counter existing and emerging cyber-based threats, consistent with established protocols.

Intelligence and Information Sharing

Provide timely, accurate, and actionable information resulting from the planning, direction, collection, exploitation, processing, analysis, production, dissemination, evaluation, and feedback of available information concerning threats to the United States, its people, property, or interests; the development, proliferation, or use of WMDs; or any other matter bearing on U.S. national or homeland security by local, state, tribal, territorial, Federal, and other stakeholders. Information sharing is the ability to exchange intelligence, information, data, or knowledge among government or private sector entities, as appropriate.

1. Anticipate and identify emerging and/or imminent threats through the intelligence cycle.
2. Share relevant, timely, and actionable information and analysis with local, state, tribal, territorial, Federal, private sector, and international partners and develop and disseminate appropriate classified/unclassified products.
3. Provide local, state, tribal, territorial, Federal, and private sector partners with or access to a mechanism to submit terrorism-related information and/or suspicious activity reports to law enforcement.

Interdiction and Disruption

Delay, divert, intercept, halt, apprehend, or secure threats and/or hazards.

1. Deter, detect, interdict, and protect against domestic and transnational criminal and terrorist activities that threaten the security of the homeland across key operational activities and critical infrastructure sectors.
2. Intercept the malicious movement and acquisition/transfer of CBRNE materials and related technologies.

Establish and maintain a unified and coordinated operational structure and process that appropriately integrates all critical stakeholders and supports the execution of core capabilities.

Protection Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Physical Protective Measures

Implement and maintain risk-informed countermeasures, and policies protecting people, borders, structures, materials, products, and systems associated with key operational activities and critical infrastructure sectors.

1. Identify, assess, and mitigate vulnerabilities to incidents through the deployment of physical protective measures.
2. Deploy protective measures commensurate with the risk of an incident and balanced with the complementary aims of enabling commerce and maintaining the civil rights of citizens.

Risk Management for Protection Programs and Activities

Identify, assess, and prioritize risks to inform Protection activities, countermeasures, and investments.

1. Ensure critical infrastructure sectors and Protection elements have and maintain risk assessment processes to identify and prioritize assets, systems, networks, and functions.
2. Ensure operational activities and critical infrastructure sectors have and maintain appropriate threat, vulnerability, and consequence tools to identify and assess threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences.

Screening, Search, and Detection

Identify, discover, or locate threats and/or hazards through active and passive surveillance and search procedures. This may include the use of systematic examinations and assessments, biosurveillance, sensor technologies, or physical investigation and intelligence.

1. Screen cargo, conveyances, mail, baggage, and people using information-based and physical screening technology and processes.
2. Detect WMD, traditional, and emerging threats and hazards of concern using:

a. A laboratory diagnostic capability and the capacity for food, agricultural (plant/animal), environmental, medical products, and clinical samples b. Bio-surveillance systems c. CBRNE detection systems d. Trained healthcare, emergency medical, veterinary, and environmental laboratory professionals.

Supply Chain Integrity and Security

Strengthen the security and resilience of the supply chain.

1. Secure and make resilient key nodes, methods of transport between nodes, and materials in transit.

M i s si o n A r e a: M i t i g at i o n

Mitigation includes those capabilities necessary to reduce loss of life and property by lessening

the impact of disasters. It is focused on the premise that individuals, the private and nonprofit

sectors, communities, critical infrastructure, and the Nation as a whole are made more resilient

when the consequences and impacts, the duration, and the financial and human costs to respond

to and recover from adverse incidents are all reduced.

Given the trend of increasing impacts from extreme events and catastrophic incidents, hazard

mitigation stands as a critical linchpin to reduce or eliminate the long-term risks to life, property,

Mitigation Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Community Resilience

Enable the recognition, understanding, communication of, and planning for risk and empower individuals and communities to make informed risk management decisions necessary to adapt to, withstand, and quickly recover from future incidents.

1. Maximize the coverage of the U.S. population that has a localized, risk-informed mitigation plan developed through partnerships across the entire community.
2. Empower individuals and communities to make informed decisions to facilitate actions necessary to adapt to, withstand, and quickly recover from future incidents.

Long-term Vulnerability Reduction

Build and sustain resilient systems, communities, and critical infrastructure and key resources lifelines so as to reduce their vulnerability to natural, technological, and human-caused threats and hazards by lessening the likelihood, severity, and duration of the adverse consequences.

1. Achieve a measurable decrease in the long-term vulnerability of the Nation against current baselines amid a growing population base, changing climate conditions, increasing reliance upon information technology, and expanding infrastructure base.

Risk and Disaster Resilience Assessment

Assess risk and disaster resilience so that decision makers, responders, and community members can take informed action to reduce their entity’s risk and increase their resilience.

1. Ensure that local, state, tribal, territorial, and insular area governments and the top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) complete a risk assessment that defines localized vulnerabilities and consequences associated with potential natural, technological, and human-caused threats and hazards to their natural, human, physical, cyber, and socioeconomic interests.

Threats and Hazards Identification

Identify the threats and hazards that occur in the geographic area; determine the frequency and magnitude; and incorporate this into analysis and planning processes so as to clearly understand the needs of a community or entity.

1. Identify the threats and hazards within and across local, state, tribal, territorial, and insular area governments, and the top 100 MSAs, in collaboration with the whole community, against a national standard based on sound science.

M i s si o n A r e a: Res p o n s e

Response includes those capabilities necessary to save lives, protect property and the

environment, and meet basic human needs after an incident has occurred. It is focused on

ensuring that the Nation is able to effectively respond to any threat or hazard, including those

with cascading effects. Response emphasizes saving and sustaining lives, stabilizing the incident,

rapidly meeting basic human needs, restoring basic services and technologies, restoring

community functionality, providing universal accessibility, establishing a safe and secure

environment, and supporting the transition to recovery.

Communities regularly deal with emergencies and disasters that have fewer impacts than those

considered to be the greatest risk to the Nation. In addition, communities may have resident

capacities to deal with the public’s needs locally for many of these lesser incidents. Catastrophic

incidents require a much broader set of atypical partners to deliver equal access to the Response

core capabilities other than those routinely addressed. Community involvement is a vital link to

providing additional support to response personnel and may often be the primary source of

manpower in the first hours and days after an incident. Because of this, community members

should be encouraged to train, exercise, and partner with emergency management officials.

A catastrophic incident with cascading events may impact the execution of applicable laws and

policies. Certain circumstances may trigger legal and policy exceptions that better aid delivery of

core capabilities. Planners should identify applicable laws and policies with their respective

counsel in the pre-planning phase.^8 These challenges should be identified during pre-incident

planning to ensure they are accounted for during an incident.

Table 5 defines and details the Response core capabilities and the preliminary targets associated

with each.

Table 5: Response Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Response Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Planning

Conduct a systematic process engaging the whole community as appropriate in the development of executable strategic, operational, and/or tactical-level approaches to meet defined objectives.

1. Develop operational plans that adequately identify critical objectives based on the planning requirement, provide a complete and integrated picture of the sequence and scope of the tasks to achieve the objectives, and are implementable within the time frame contemplated in the plan using available resources.

Public Information and Warning

Deliver coordinated, prompt, reliable, and actionable information to the whole community through the use of clear, consistent, accessible, and culturally and linguistically appropriate methods to effectively relay information regarding any threat or hazard and, as appropriate, the actions being taken and the assistance being made available.

1. Inform all affected segments of society by all means necessary, including accessible tools, of critical lifesaving and life-sustaining information to expedite the delivery of emergency services and aid the public to take protective actions.
2. Deliver credible and actionable messages to inform ongoing emergency services and the public about protective measures and other life-sustaining actions and facilitate the transition to recovery.

(^8) Given the scope and magnitude of a catastrophic incident, waivers, exceptions, and exemptions to policy,

regulations, and laws may be available in order to save and sustain life, and to protect property and the environment. However, any such waivers, exceptions, and exemptions must be consistent with laws that preserve human and civil rights and protect individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs.

Response Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Fire Management and Suppression

Provide structural, wildland, and specialized firefighting capabilities to manage and suppress fires of all types, kinds, and complexities while protecting the lives, property, and the environment in the affected area.

1. Provide traditional first response or initial attack firefighting services.
2. Conduct expanded or extended attack firefighting and support operations through coordinated response of fire management and specialized fire suppression resources.
3. Ensure the coordinated deployment of appropriate local, regional, national, and international fire management and fire suppression resources to reinforce firefighting efforts and maintain an appropriate level of protection for subsequent fires.

Infrastructure Systems

Stabilize critical infrastructure functions, minimize health and safety threats, and efficiently restore and revitalize systems and services to support a viable, resilient community.

1. Decrease and stabilize immediate infrastructure threats to the affected population, to include survivors in the heavily-damaged zone, nearby communities that may be affected by cascading effects, and mass care support facilities and evacuation processing centers with a focus on life-sustainment and congregate care services.
2. Re-establish critical infrastructure within the affected areas to support ongoing emergency response operations, life sustainment, community functionality, and a transition to recovery.
3. Provide for the clearance, removal, and disposal of debris.
4. Formalize partnerships with governmental and private sector cyber incident or emergency response teams to accept, triage, and collaboratively respond to cascading impacts in an efficient manner.

Logistics and Supply Chain Management^9

Deliver essential commodities, equipment, and services in support of impacted communities and survivors, to include emergency power and fuel support, as well as the coordination of access to community staples. Synchronize logistics capabilities and enable the restoration of impacted supply chains.

1. Mobilize and deliver governmental, nongovernmental, and private sector resources to save lives, sustain lives, meet basic human needs, stabilize the incident, and transition to recovery, to include moving and delivering resources and services to meet the needs of disaster survivors.
2. Enhance public and private resource and services support for an affected area.

Mass Care Services

Provide life-sustaining and human services to the affected population, to include hydration, feeding, sheltering, temporary housing, evacuee support, reunification, and distribution of emergency supplies.

1. Move and deliver resources and capabilities to meet the needs of disaster survivors, including individuals with access and functional needs.
2. Establish, staff, and equip emergency shelters and other temporary housing options (including accessible housing) for the affected population.
3. Move from congregate care to non-congregate care alternatives and provide relocation assistance or interim housing solutions for families unable to return to their pre-disaster homes.

(^9) This replaces the previous “Public and Private Services and Resources” core capability.

Response Mission Area Core Capabilities and Preliminary Targets

Mass Search and Rescue Operations

Deliver traditional and atypical search and rescue capabilities, including personnel, services, animals, and assets to survivors in need, with the goal of saving the greatest number of endangered lives in the shortest time possible.

1. Conduct search and rescue operations to locate and rescue persons in distress.
2. Initiate community-based search and rescue support operations across a wide geographically dispersed area.
3. Ensure the synchronized deployment of local, regional, national, and international teams to reinforce ongoing search and rescue efforts and transition to recovery.

On-scene Security, Protection, and Law Enforcement

Ensure a safe and secure environment through law enforcement and related security and protection operations for people and communities located within affected areas and also for response personnel engaged in lifesaving and life- sustaining operations.

1. Establish a safe and secure environment in an affected area.
2. Provide and maintain on-scene security and meet the protection needs of the affected population over a geographically dispersed area while eliminating or mitigating the risk of further damage to persons, property, and the environment.

Operational Communications

Ensure the capacity for timely communications in support of security, situational awareness, and operations by any and all means available, among and between affected communities in the impact area and all response forces.

1. Ensure the capacity to communicate with both the emergency response community and the affected populations and establish interoperable voice and data communications between Federal, tribal, state, and local first responders.
2. Re-establish sufficient communications infrastructure within the affected areas to support ongoing life- sustaining activities, provide basic human needs, and transition to recovery.
3. Re-establish critical information networks, including cybersecurity information sharing networks, in order to inform situational awareness, enable incident response, and support the resiliency of key systems.

Public Health, Healthcare, and Emergency Medical Services

Provide lifesaving medical treatment via Emergency Medical Services and related operations and avoid additional disease and injury by providing targeted public health, medical, and behavioral health support, and products to all affected populations.

1. Deliver medical countermeasures to exposed populations.
2. Complete triage and initial stabilization of casualties and begin definitive care for those likely to survive their injuries and illness.
3. Return medical surge resources to pre-incident levels, complete health assessments, and identify recovery processes.