This report seeks to identify trends in these contingency operations to the greatest extent possible. We gathered data from public records covering the period since the end of the Cold War and synthesized the data in new ways to identify how many operations these agencies have conducted, the types of missions involved and the total ...Read more >

This Technical Assistance Document the first of two documents created by the National Response Team (NRT) to address worker fatigue during large-scale disaster operations, such as those following the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9-11 attacks, anthrax contamination, the Columbia Space Shuttle Recovery, and Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and ...Read more >

The majority of humanitarian emergencies worldwide stem from natural disasters or from conflicts. Congress has consistently supported humanitarian efforts as a means of responding to crises in the short term, taking the lead, and promoting a U.S. ...Read more >

Commentators speak of two types of nuclear threat. Attack with a stockpile nuclear weapon by an adversary State during a conflict is one of them. This would most probably be set off high above the ground to maximise ...Read more >

This study was supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Award No. HSHQDC-08-C-00176. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations contained in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agencies that provided support for the ...Read more >

The need to define measurable national preparedness capabilities is a well-established and recognized issue. For example, in December 2003, the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities noted that preparedness (for combating terrorism) requires measurable demonstrated capacity by communities, states, and private sector entities throughout the United States to respond to threats with well-planned, well-coordinated, and effective efforts. This is consistent with our April 2002 ...Read more >

SOUTHCOM demonstrates a number of key practices that enhance and sustain collaboration with interagency and other stakeholders toward achieving security and stability in the region. SOUTHCOM coordinated with interagency partners to develop mutually reinforcing strategies, including its 2009 Theater Campaign Plan and its 2020 Command Strategy. In addition, SOUTHCOM focuses on leveraging the capabilities of various partners, including interagency and international partners, and nongovernmental ...Read more >

It’s the drug deal, said Staff Sergeant Hicks.1 We can’t buy them tools, only pieces directly used in the project. We can’t leave anything behind once we finish. So we buy paint. A lot of paint, he smirks. We are sitting in a tea shop in Lamu, a town on a small, remote island off Kenya’s northeastern coast and within a few hundred kilometers of the Somali border. Hicks and his group of two other Civil Affairs soldiers look like young American tourists, wearing the universal uniform of khaki ...Read more >

DISASTER RESPONSE Federal forces supported state and local authorities during Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in many other natural disasters in the past decade. Navy divers assisted local, state and federal authorities during the Minnesota bridge collapse of 2007. In 2008, U.S. Army North, U.S. Northern Command’s joint force land component command, deployed a two-star task force to command and control federal military forces in support of the Federal Emergency ...Read more >

Hurricane Katrina was one of the largest and most costly natural disasters in U.S. history, and its effects will be felt for many years to come. Though there were many compelling stories of individual acts of heroism in response to the disaster, it is widely agreed that most aspects of the response, including the public health and medical response, fell short of expectations. Hurricane Katrina tested the public health system in terms of its emergency response role; a number of problem areas ...Read more >

Natural disasters including hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods caused over 220,000 deaths worldwide in the first half of 2010 and wreaked havoc on homes, buildings, and the environment. To withstand and recover from natural and human-caused disasters, it is essential that citizens and communities work together to anticipate threats, limit their effects, and rapidly restore functionality after a crisis. Increasing evidence indicates that collaboration between the private and ...Read more >

In the past few years the United States has experienced a series of disasters that have severely taxed and, in many cases, overwhelmed the capacity of responding agencies. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 provided perhaps the most obvious instance as millions around the world watched a region of the world’s most powerful nation apparently degenerate into chaos. With modern technologies such as satellite imaging and services such as Google Earth, it was possible for anyone with access to the Internet ...Read more >

Concerted efforts to improve public health emergency preparedness in recent years have led to increased capabilities, especially for responses to such biologically based threats as pandemic influenza and biological terrorism. Public health emergencies can arise from a wide variety of incidents and circumstances, however, and it is important for the public health system to be prepared for all types of emergencies that have public health impacts, including natural disasters, industrial accidents, ...Read more >

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created the Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) as part of the Cooperative Agreement on Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) to help the nation’s largest metropolitan regions develop the ability to provide life-saving medications in the event of a large-scale bioterrorist attack or naturally occurring disease outbreak. Administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Division of Strategic National ...Read more >

Historically, Americans looked to their primary care physician for acute care that is, treatment for a new or worrisome condition or a flare-up of a chronic health problem, such as asthma or diabetes. Today, however, the picture has changed: Less than half of acute care visits in the United States involve the patient’s personal physician. Instead, according to a study published in Health Affairs, a large and growing number of Americans are seeking care in hospital emergency rooms and other non ...Read more >