[KYHAM] KEN Training for April 2005: An Overview of the National Response Plan (NRP)

[Ron Dodson]

Whenever federal help is needed in response to any sort of major 
calamity from natural disasters to terrorism, there is a plan in place 
which outlines how this will be done.  This is our National Response 
Plan or NRP. The NRP replaces the former Federal Response Plan from the 
days before 9-11. 

The NRP stands upon the foundation of the National Incident Management 
System (NIMS which we discussed in February and March of this year.   
This new plan establishes a comprehensive, national, all-hazards 
approach to domestic incident management across a wide range of 
activities  It does not alter any existing plans at state or local 
levels and operates under the assumption that major emergency events, 
like day to day emergencies are best handled from the local level 
upwards and not the other way around. The NRP distinguishes between 
incidents that require Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
coordination, termed "Incidents of National Significance," and the 
majority of incidents occurring each year that are handled by 
responsible jurisdictions or agencies through other established 
authorities and existing plans.  Incidents of National Significance are 
those high-impact events that require a coordinated and effective 
response by an appropriate combination of Federal, State, local, tribal, 
private-sector, and nongovernmental entities in order to save lives, 
minimize damage, and provide the basis for long­term community recovery 
and mitigation activities.

Where the Ky Emergency Operations Plan overseen by KyEM is based upon 34 
Annexes and their corresponding  Appendices and "TAB"'s; the NRP is 
based around fifteen Emergency Support Functions or ESF's.  These are: 
Transportation, Communications, Public Works and Engineering, 
Firefighting, Emergency Management, Mass Care, Housing and Human 
Services, Resource Support, Public Health and Medical, Urban Search and 
Rescue (USAR), Oil and Hazardous Materials Response, Agricultural and 
Natural Resources, Energy, Public Safety and Security, Long Term 
Community Recovery and Mitigation and External Affairs. There is 
currently on ongoing discussion as to whether the KyEOP and county EOP's 
will stay as they are or  if they too will go to the ESF layout of the 
NRP.  This may not be decided until late this year or next.   For a more 
complete education on the NRP, I suggest you consider taking IS-800 
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is800.asp  which is a free home study 
course provided by EMI.

For a look at the National Preparedness Goal which ties NIMS and the NRP 
together, see the following page loaded with documents such as FAQ's and 
Fact Sheets on the changing national response system. 
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/assessments/hspd8.htm