Are We Really Ready? The Need for National Emergency Preparedness Standards and the Creation of the Cycle of Emergency Planning1

Abstract

A review of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) policies and recent performance reveals major weaknesses in the nation's preparedness for protecting against and responding to terrorist attacks and natural disasters. Research has shown that the DHS currently lacks national standards for the review and maintenance of emergency plans, the frequency of emergency drills, and the review of results from such drills. This policy proposes the standardization of emergency exercises and the creation of the cycle of emergency planning (CEP), with DHS funding contingent on implementation of these national standards. This article addresses how the implementation of the CEP would provide a method for testing, revising, and maintaining emergency preparedness through review, exercises, and revision. Holding emergency exercises every two years and reviewing their results would help keep plans current and grounded in feasibility. Reviews of emergency plans and capabilities, conducted every five years by a third party, would help maintain objectivity. These exercises and reviews should be used to update and maintain emergency plans as part of the CEP. Enforcing these new standards would remedy the failures in the current emergency preparedness system and improve the general safety and security of the nation.