The National Response Framework

Today Secretary Chertoff and I released a new National Response Framework to guide how our nation plans, prepares for, and responds to disasters and emergencies of all kinds and all sizes.

The National Response Framework builds on the previous National Response Plan. It is designed to give senior elected and appointed officials from federal, tribal, state, and local government, as well as members of the private sector, a clear, straightforward, easy-to-understand system for working together before, during, and after disasters. It can be used to manage everything from the smallest local incident to a major catastrophic event that impacts our entire nation.

The Framework was not written by Washington bureaucrats working in isolation. It reflects extensive coordination and input from state and local officials and emergency managers from across the country – the very people who will be using the plan. As such, the National Response Framework is not a federal plan; it is a national plan that will make sure everyone involved in the response effort is working from the same sheet of music.

The new Framework builds on a set of core principles

• It stresses the need for partnerships across government and the private sector.
• It emphasizes a “bottom up” approach that recognizes most incidents are managed locally and that all incidents should be handled at the lowest jurisdictional level.
• It is designed to be scalable so that it can be expanded or narrowed based on the scope and nature of the incident, and it is flexible and adaptable to different kinds of disasters.
• It recognizes that successful emergency preparedness and response depend on unity of command and a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities among all involved.
• It is always activated and encourages a forward leaning posture by emphasizing preparedness planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising and applying lessons learned. Planning ahead of the disaster is critical to a successful response, and the Framework encourages such coordination.

Today’s release of the National Response Framework marks the culmination of extensive outreach and coordination among the Department, FEMA, and literally thousands of people across the country involved in emergency management. We are grateful for the expertise that so many individuals lent to its creation, and we are pleased to present the Framework today to federal, state, local, and private sector partners and to the American people.

David Paulison
Federal Emergency Management Agency