Emergency Management Assessments Completed In Nine States Under Joint FEMA/EMAP Initiative
Release Date: July 23, 2003
Release Number: HQ-03-NEMBCAP
There's an old saying about how difficult it is to get where you need to go unless you know where you already are. Well, the same thing is true in emergency management. And that's what the National Emergency Management Baseline Capability Assessment Program (NEMB-CAP) is all about. It's all part of a national effort to establish a baseline measurement of the nation's emergency management capabilities and to help states improve their ability to prepare for and respond to emergencies and disasters of all kinds.
The NEMB-CAP evaluation process is based on the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP), and the first step is a self-assessment by the state using the EMAP Standard, a process that includes organizing compliance documentation. That's followed by a week-long, on-site assessment by a team of trained, independent peer assessors from other states and local jurisdictions. Members of the assessor teams are required to have at least five years of state or local emergency management experience and have completed an assessor-training regimen. Approximately 100 assessors have been trained so far.
"It's important to keep in mind that we're evaluating the state's emergency management system, not just the emergency management office," said Beth Zimmerman, an assessment team leader and recovery and accreditation manager at the Arizona Division of Emergency Management. "Coordination with the Department of Transportation, Public Safety and all the people that are part of the Emergency Operations Center; they are all a piece of the bigger picture of emergency management, so it's really the state emergency management program that we're evaluating."
Launched earlier this year by FEMA in cooperation with EMAP and the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), the assessment project is designed to provide information about emergency management and response and preparedness capabilities at the state level so that strengths and weaknesses can be identified and addressed, future progress can be evaluated against a known baseline, and to help target assistance to areas of greatest need.
"Through these assessments, states are identifying areas where they need to better document some of their programs and procedures," said Emily DeMers, EMAP's executive director. "They are seeing where they could benefit by institutionalizing the things that they are doing well."
So far this year, assessment teams have completed on-site evaluations in nine states, including Arizona, North Dakota, Iowa, Ohio, Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania and Maryland. At least nine more states and/or territories and the District of Columbia are scheduled this year, and it's anticipated that others will be added to the schedule. The remainder of the states and territories will be assessed next year.
EMAP is a voluntary accreditation process for state and local emergency management programs that is designed to provide a framework for accountability and continuous improvement. However, accreditation is not a funded component of the FEMA-sponsored assessments. The evaluation of a state's emergency management system is based on the EMAP Standard, which covers 14 emergency management functional areas drawn from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1600 Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management.
The EMAP Standard establishes criteria for the structure and components of a viable emergency management program. EMAP standards include criterion for resource management; emergency management planning; direction, control and coordination; operational plans and procedures; communications; logistics; public information and more.
The EMAP Standard and assessment process were developed through a collaborative initiative involving FEMA, NEMA, the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), and other stakeholder organizations including the National Governors Association, National League of Cities and The Council of State Governments. EMAP is overseen by an independent commission whose nine members are appointed by FEMA, IAEM and NEMA.
FEMA is currently developing an online self-assessment support tool to augment the EMAP Standard, and which will replace the State Capability Assessment for Readiness (CAR) as FEMA's state emergency management capability assessment instrument. Meanwhile, efforts are under way to restructure the Local and Tribal CAR instruments to strengthen the terrorism and weapons and mass destruction components of those self-assessment tools.
Last Modified: Wednesday, 23-Jul-2003 08:59:56