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Homeland Security tech spending on the way up
By Greta Wodele, National Journal's Technology Daily
October 26, 2004

President Bush and Congress have provided the Homeland Security Department millions of dollars next year for a myriad of technology-related programs to bolster security. But while Bush last week signed into law a bill approving $32 billion in spending, lawmakers also criticized some of the department's efforts to employ new technologies.

The measure is the second funding bill for the fledgling department. Since the department's creation in early 2003, lawmakers have allocated federal dollars to research and develop new devices for security, update information technology systems to share information among law enforcers, and prepare "first responders" to emergencies for another potential terrorist attack. Congress also has funded advanced technology, such as scanned fingerprints to imbed in travel documents, to increase security at air, land and seaports.

"This bill reflects the president's commitment to defend America by making sure the federal government and state and local first responders have the resources they need to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States," the White House said statement after Bush signed the bill.

Protection By Air, Land And Sea

Among other technology-related funds, the statute includes: $8.5 billion for border security and immigration enforcement; $5.1 billion for aviation security; $4 billion for grants to state and local emergency workers; $150 million for port security grants; $150 million for rail and transportation security grants; and $340 million to complete a biometric system to track foreign visitors entering and exiting the country.

For the entry-exit system, which is known as US-VISIT, House and Senate appropriators said they are "troubled by the security gap on the nation's borders" caused by delays in linking the US-VISIT database with criminal databases operated by the FBI. The two systems currently are incompatible because US-VISIT uses a two-fingerprint scan, while the FBI's database requires all 10 fingerprints for background searches on people.

" With implementation of a new visa-tracking system and enrollment of millions of visitors into US-VISIT, it is essential that [homeland security officials] collaborate with the FBI to ensure that [the US-VISIT system] can retrieve, in real time, biometric information contained in the [FBI] database," the law says.

The act also includes $2 billion to screen passengers and bags at airports. Of that amount, officials must spend $180 million to buy explosive-detection systems and $45 million to install them. To research and develop new transportation security devices, Congress included $178 million, and $54 million must be used to develop advanced explosive-detection devices.

For seaports, the Coast Guard would receive $982 million to upgrade its equipment, vessels and facilities. Lawmakers said the agency must use $724 million for its beleaguered Deepwater program. Officials recently told Congress the 20-year, multibillion-dollar initiative is falling behind schedule and would cost $2.2 billion more than estimated.

The program aims to integrate the Coast Guard's ships, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and computer and surveillance logistics, among other things. The Government Accountability Office said Congress would need to fund Deepwater at $795 million annually adjusted for inflation to finish it by 2022.

GAO also found that the Coast Guard's second-largest procurement program, Rescue21, has encountered delays due to software integration problems. The program would replace the agency's antiquated communications system at an estimated cost of $953 million. Lawmakers did not approve any funding for the program.

Coast Guard officials told Congress this year that they are unsure whether they will complete the program at the end of 2006 but that they do not anticipate additional costs. The system would let officials digitally call on distressed boaters, among other activities.

Lawmakers did allocate $18.5 million to research and develop advanced technology for seaport security. To pre-screen cargo at foreign seaports, lawmakers included $126 million for the Container Security Initiative (CSI). And for border security, lawmakers appropriated $64.2 million for monitoring devices.

Internal And External Technology

To combat cyber threats, the bill includes $67 million -- a $2.1 million increase over last year -- to expand activities at Homeland Security's cyber-security division. Some lawmakers have criticized the department for not spending enough resources on the issue. The division is charged with identifying, analyzing and issuing threat warnings to the public.

Congress allocated $10 million to integrate a dozen federal lists of suspected terrorists' names. The department has come under fire for not moving quickly to overcome technological and policy hurdles to consolidate lists. Law enforcement officials currently cannot access information on all the lists immediately.

The lawmakers appropriated $449 million for the customs and border security directorate to complete the upgrade of its accounting system. The department said this summer it was testing a monthly accounting program that consolidates trade transactions, account statements and payment capabilities in an effort to increase efficiency and protect against terrorism.

The program will help the directorate collect and analyze transaction data, which will be shared among more than 20 government agencies that regulate U.S. borders and the trade community. The program will be implemented by 2007. Within the directorate, the customs and immigration enforcement wing would receive $40 million to upgrade its accounting system.

Congress also provided $275 million for Homeland Security's chief information officer -- a significant increase over Bush's $226 million request. The CIO must use $208 million to invest in department-wide technology programs.

Of that funding, $91 million is for information technology services; $86 million is for department wireless devices; $13 million is for the department's computer architecture and portal technology; and $8 million is for satellite imagery. The appropriators required the CIO to spend $49 million on E-Merge, a program designed to guide department-wide investments and to integrate financial and human resources systems.

The lawmakers appropriated $1 billion for the science and technology division, which coordinates research and development of technologies and acquires existing technologies. The division must spend $593 million to develop technologies that counter threats from chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological weapons, and high explosives, and $61 million to develop counter measures to protect commercial aircraft against shoulder-fired missiles.

Channels Of Communication

The science and technology division also will receive $11 million for SAFECOM, a wireless initiative created to ensure that firefighters and other first responders have equipment that can "talk" across jurisdictions during emergencies.

The spending bill further includes $15 million for the National Incident Management System to coordinate first responders and federal officials. First responders recently expressed concerns about federal funding for NIMS, an unrealistic deadline, poor access to training, the lack of a well-defined model for an interdisciplinary emergency system, and the ability of responders' equipment to communicate across jurisdictions.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge last month outlined minimum requirements each state must meet by 2006. After 2007, states would only receive federal grant funding if they have met the implementation requirements.

Finally, to better exchange information about flood hazards, the department is spending $200 million to update the flood-mapping system. Michael Brown, Homeland Security's undersecretary for emergency preparedness and response, told Congress this year that "more than two-thirds of the maps are more than 10 years old."

The information, which is used by communities, lenders, insurance agents and others, also is incompatible with geographic information system technology, he said. The modernization program would enable the exchange of flood-hazard data through the Internet.

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FEMA
Homeland Security Announces Improved Resource Management Tools For National Incident Management System

Release Date: October 20, 2004
Release Number: HQ-04-500

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Integration Center, has updated enhanced resource management tools designed to help incident managers identify, obtain and track needed resources during an incident or disaster.

“The skillful management of resources during an emergency is critical to an effective response operation,” said Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response. “Managers must be able to communicate clearly with each other regarding the exact type of equipment, teams or personnel being requested during emergency situations. These improved tools also will help federal, state and local officials ensure that equipment and teams deployed through the system are compatible with those of neighboring jurisdictions that work together through mutual aid agreements.”

The new products include an updated National Mutual Aid Glossary of Terms and Definitions, which provides terms for equipment, teams and personnel used in disasters. Resource Typing Definitions – II categorizes equipment and teams by functional grouping and then 'types' or organizes them according to capability and/or capacity.

Resource management is a key component of NIMS, the first-ever national, standardized approach to incident management and response, which was developed by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge at the request of President Bush. NIMS is managed and maintained by Homeland Security’s NIMS Integration Center. Federal, state and local officials should use the 120 typed definitions as they develop or update their inventories of response assets.

Resource typing establishes common resource definitions, developed by experts in the emergency management community, that help make ordering and dispatching resources during an incident more efficient and ensure that responders receive the resources they need during an emergency or disaster.

An initial 60 typed definitions were released in March 2004 as part of the National Mutual Aid and Resource Management Initiative. The new Resource Typing Definitions – II provides definitions for and types an additional 60 resources for a total of 120; the glossary has been updated to include the additional 60 resources. The glossary and resource typing definitions may be downloaded at www.fema.gov/nims/.

The resource definitions were developed by federal, state, and local experts from the following disciplines: Animal Health, Emergency Management, Emergency Medical Fire/Hazardous Materials, Emergency Medical Services, Health and Medical, Law Enforcement, Public Works, and Search and Rescue.

On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. FEMA's continuing mission within the new department is to lead the effort to prepare the nation for all hazards and effectively manage federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates proactive mitigation activities, trains first responders, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration.

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Kinston adopts emergency plan
October 19,2004
BOB SHILES
Staff Writer

Kinston has joined communities across the country in adopting a unified plan to deal with domestic emergencies, including major acts of terrorism.

City Council voted unanimously Monday to adopt the National Incident Management System, a plan used nationwide at all levels of government and private organizations that helps entities work together to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies.

Adoption of the system, developed by the Department of Homeland Security in response to a 2003 presidential directive, is mandatory for a government or non-government entity to receive any form of federal preparedness assistance.

"The government is saying we have to standardize," said Greg Smith, the city's public safety director. "If we don't adopt the system, we can get no federal aid."

Smith noted that there will have to be some modifications to existing incident emergency management plans used by the city's police and fire departments, but they are minimal and mostly deal with terminology. The last 18 years, the fire department has used an incident command system similar to the plan developed by the Department of Homeland Security.

At a recent meeting in Baltimore with Homeland Security officials, Smith said there was some opposition to the mandate that the National Incident Management System be used in all emergency prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation programs in order for federal preparedness assistance to be received.

"But Homeland Security officials said we're going to learn to play ball together," the director said. "After that, no one had anything to say."

While noting that the police department will have to make the most adjustments - especially in terminology- to conform with the national system, City Manager Ralph Clark said adopting the plan is in the best interest of the city.

"It's absolutely a good system," he said. "Everything will be much more uniform."

Bob Shiles can be reached at (252) 527-3191, Ext. 237, or at Bob_Shiles@link.freedom.com.

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Regional approaches get thumbs-up
Homeland security officials tackle preparedness planning
BY Diane Frank
Oct. 18, 2004

Homeland Security Department officials must overcome barriers at every level to successfully safeguard the nation with a regional approach. That's the view of policy officials who are leading efforts to organize public safety responses to potential terrorist attacks.

A regional approach to homeland security has been a major part of DHS officials' strategy since the department's creation. Regional organizations can offer better prevention and responses through targeted coordination. Concerns in one part of the country can differ from concerns in another part of the country, said Dan Kaniewski, deputy director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at the George Washington University.

The Washington, D.C., region, "one that has a federal presence, one that has three very different political jurisdictions ...is not the same as in Texas," Kaniewski said. Texas has "border issues that we don't have to contend with," he said, speaking at an Oct. 5 event sponsored by the Heritage Foundation.

Some state officials have Canadian border concerns, while others have seaport issues, all of which create a compelling need to look at homeland security from a regional perspective, he said.

Circumstances differ in every section of the country, and even within a single region, the risks and threats change enough to require shifts in policies and resources, said John Cohen, Massachusetts' homeland security policy adviser.

Massachusetts officials have set up preparedness regions within the state and also have formed regional partnerships with other states, including New York, Maine and Delaware. "It's not just because we're neighbors with each other but [because] we share many of the same problems that we have to face," Cohen said.

Developing regional responses might finally get under way now that a fiscal 2005 appropriations bill for DHS has passed both houses of Congress. The bill contains more than $200 million for administrative and regional operations in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate. The conference report also encourages DHS officials to create regional offices to support the National Incident Management System and includes other language focusing on regional efforts.

The conference report, however, also requires DHS officials to notify lawmakers 10 days before taking any action to consolidate existing regional offices. That congressional involvement and potential for interference could create barriers to DHS Secretary Tom Ridge's efforts to create a regionally focused organization for homeland security preparedness, said Dick Armey, former House majority leader.

One of the first regional organizations is the National Capital Region, which includes Washington, D.C., and parts of Maryland and Virginia. Home to the federal government, the region has many special features that other parts of the country lack.

However, officials in other regions can follow the model of the National Capital Region's governance structure and the experience of its officials in building that structure, said George Foresman, Virginia's deputy assistant to the governor for commonwealth preparedness.

Foresman said governance is at the heart of any regional effort. Until all players share a common governance structure, use the same language and adopt the same priorities, nothing can be accomplished, he said. The governance challenge is further complicated by legal issues, including differences in states' liability statutes.

Knowing that the results of shared governance contribute to the common good isn't always enough to push people to the goal, he added. "It's easy to say you want to do regionalism; it's phenomenally difficult to go from concept to completion," he said.

Starting from scratch in preparing for regional threats can have both positive and negative consequences, homeland security experts said.

"The great challenge that we face in looking at regional collaboration and regional cooperative efforts is to respect the regional boundaries that exist across multiple functions of government, across multiple activities in the private sector, and build those into a collaborative environment where we can take a target and risk assessment and apply it in a reasonable and an equitable manner," Foresman said.

Cohen agreed to an extent. "We tried to, as much as possible, take into account current, existing regional structures" in Massachusetts, he said. "But at the end of the day, direct vulnerability and risk were what drove how we structured the state planning, how we distributed our funds and how we tasked the regional planning entities to work together in developing their strategies for their region."

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Fact Sheet: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2005
Monday, Oct 18, 2004

Today President George W. Bush signed the FY 2005 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which provides $28.9 billion in net discretionary spending for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This is $1.8 billion more than the FY 2004 enacted level – reflecting a 6.6% increase in funding for the Department over the previous year. Including Project BioShield, mandatory and fee-funded programs, a total of $40.7 billion will be available to the Department in FY 2005.

The funding provided in FY 2005 reflects the ongoing commitment by the Administration and the Congress to secure the homeland. The act will allow the Department to build upon significant investments to date by improving our safeguards against terrorism, while sustaining the many other important departmental activities.
Strengthening Border and Port Security

The Act includes $419.2 million in new funding to enhance border and port security activities, including the expansion of pre-screening cargo containers in high-risk areas and the detection of individuals attempting to illegally enter the United States.

Additional funding for the U.S. Coast Guard (+$500 million, an 8.6-percent increase) will upgrade port security efforts and provide additional resources to implement the Maritime Transportation Security Act. Key enhancements funded by the act include:

The Container Security Initiative (CSI) focuses on pre-screening cargo before it reaches our shores. The act includes an increase of $25 million over the current program funding of $101 million to continue both Phases I and II, as well as to begin the final phase of CSI.

The United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US –VISIT) program's first phase was deployed at 115 airports and 14 seaports. US VISIT expedites the arrival and departure of legitimate travelers, while making it more difficult for those intending to do us harm to enter our nation. The act provides $340 million in 2005, an increase of $12 million over the FY 2004 funding, to continue expansion of the US VISIT system.

Aerial Surveillance and Sensor Technology increases the effectiveness of the more than 12,000 Border Patrol agents deployed along the borders, and supports other missions such as drug interdiction. The act includes $64.2 million for CBP to enhance land-based detection and monitoring of movement between the ports. The act also includes $28 million for CBP to increase the flight hours of P-3 aircraft and $12.5 million for long range radar operations.

Radiation Detection Monitors screen passengers and cargo coming into the United States. The act includes $80 million for the next generation of screening devices for our nation's ports of entry.

CBP Targeting Systems aid in identifying high-risk cargo and passengers. The act includes an increase of $20.6 million for staffing and technology acquisition to support the National Targeting Center, trend analysis, and the Automated Targeting Systems.

The Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) focuses on partnerships to improve security along the entire supply chain, from the factory floor, to foreign vendors, land borders and seaports. The FY 2005 appropriation includes an increase of $15.2 million for this effort.

The act increases the U.S. Coast Guard's budget by 9 percent -- from $5.8 billion in FY 2004 to $6.3 billion in FY 2005. In addition to maintaining its ongoing mission, the budget provides over $100 million to support the implementation of the Maritime Transportation Security Act, which will increase the Coast Guard's ability to develop, review and approve vessel and port security plans, improve underwater detection capabilities, and increase the intelligence program. The budget also provides for the Coast Guard's ongoing Integrated Deepwater System initiative, funding the program at $724 million, an increase of $56 million over the FY 2004 funding level.

Enhancing Biodefense

An additional $2.5 billion for Project BioShield will be available starting in FY 2005 for the development and pre-purchase of necessary medical countermeasures against weapons of mass destruction, and improved bio-surveillance by expanding air monitoring for biological agents in high-threat cities and high-value targets such as stadiums and transit systems. Specifically, the FY 2005 appropriation funds the following initiatives:

Project BioShield allows the Federal Government to pre-purchase critically needed vaccines and medications for biodefense as soon as experts agree that they are safe and effective enough to be added to the Strategic National Stockpile. The program seeks to encourage the development of necessary medical countermeasures against a biological, radiological, or nuclear attack. Starting in 2005, $2.5 billion will be available for BioShield.

Improving Biosurveillance, within DHS, will involve the Science and Technology (S&T) and Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP) directorates.

In S&T, the act provides a total of $118 million to enhance current environmental monitoring activities. A key component of this initiative will be an expansion and deployment of the next generation of technologies related to the BioWatch Program, a bio-surveillance warning system.

In IAIP, $11 million is appropriated to integrate, in real-time, bio-surveillance data collected from sensors throughout the country and fuse this data with information from health and agricultural surveillance and other terrorist-threat information from the law enforcement and intelligence communities.

National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) is responsible for managing and coordinating the Federal medical response to major emergencies and federally declared disasters. For 2005, the act includes $20 million in FEMA for planning and exercises associated with medical surge capabilities.

Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection

The act provides $894 million, a 7 percent increase from FY 2004 to Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP), which will enhance capabilities to receive intelligence and information from an expanded set of sources, to assess the vulnerabilities of the nation's assets and critical infrastructure, to assess consequences, and to add capabilities in remediation and protective actions. Key provisions include:

Threat Determination and Assessment provides tools and unique analytical capability to enhance the Government's ability to integrate, synchronize and correlate sources of information relating to homeland security, emanating from both traditional (Intelligence and federal law enforcement communities) and non-traditional (state and local governments and private industry) sources, and integrate that knowledge with an understanding of exploitable infrastructure vulnerabilities.

$67.4 million, a $2.1 million increase over FY 2004, to expand the capabilities of the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), which implements the public and private sector partnership protecting cyber security as it identifies, analyzes, and reduces threats and vulnerabilities; disseminates threat warning information; and coordinates cyber incident preparedness, response, and recovery efforts.

Improving Aviation Security

$5.1 billion for the Transportation Security Administration, including aviation security fees, a $679 million increase over 2004. These funds will be used to continue to improve the quality and efficiency of screening operations through additional screener training, stronger management controls of screener performance, and technology automation.

The act includes $475 million to continue deploying more efficient baggage screening solutions at our nation's busiest airports. This funding will be used to improve the integration of explosive detection system (EDS) equipment into individual airports' baggage processing. This will increase security effectiveness and promote greater efficiency.

The act includes $115 million for air cargo security, to continue the research and deployment of screening technology started in FY 2004 and to increase air cargo inspectors.

In addition, the Federal Air Marshals (FAMS) program, which has been moved to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), receives $663 million in the act, an increase of $50 million over the FY 2004 level.

$61 million is appropriated to the DHS Science and Technology directorate, to accelerate development of more effective technologies to counter the threat of portable anti-aircraft missiles.

Support for State and Local Governments and First Responders

The act provides a total of $4 billion for state and local assistance programs.

State-based formula grants are funded at $1.5 billion, including $400 million for law enforcement, with provisions directing the use of the per capita formula. The “all hazards” Emergency Management Performance Grant program is funded at $180 million.

Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grants are provided $885 million, below the request of $1.45 billion. The bill provides a total of $315 million in transportation security grants – in particular, $150 million each for port security grants and rail/transit security grants.

Firefighter assistance grants are funded at $715 million, including $65 million for hiring, compared with the request of $500 million. The statement of managers calls for retaining the program's “all hazards” focus.

The act recognizes the Department's implementation of HSPD-8, and sets deadlines for establishing first responder preparedness levels in January 2005, and releasing the National Preparedness Goal in March 2005.

Enhancing Immigration Security and Enforcement

The Act provides an increase of $179 million for improvements in immigration enforcement both domestically and overseas, including $123 million for the detention and removal of illegal aliens. To enhance immigration security and enforcement, the act includes:

Detention and Removal. An increase of $123 million in FY 2005 will expand ongoing fugitive apprehension efforts and the removal from the United States of jailed offenders, support additional detention and removal capacity.

Immigration Enforcement appropriated funding increases by $56 million for detecting and locating individuals in the United States who are in violation of immigration laws, or who are engaging in immigration-related fraud and will improve visa security by working cooperatively with U.S. consular offices to review visa applications.

Eliminating the Immigration Backlog

The act includes $160 million in total resources to continue progress toward a six-month processing for all immigration applications, while maintaining security and continuing the President's multi-year $500 million initiative to reduce the backlog of applications. CIS has continued the focus on quality improvements and expanded national security checks, such as performing background name checks on all applications before approval.

Increasing DHS Preparedness and Response Capacity

The bill includes $3.1 billion for the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate. This funding supports the Nation's ability to prepare for, mitigate against, respond to and recover from natural and man made disasters. This includes $2 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund to allow DHS to provide support to states for response and recovery to unforeseen emergencies and natural disasters.

Strengthening the National Incident Management System (NIMS)

The act provides $15 million for the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The NIMS provides a national framework for Federal, State, Territorial, Tribal, and local jurisdictions to work together more effectively to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from all domestic incidents. The NIMS funding will be used to develop NIMS related training, guidance and other publications to support NIMS implementation. The funding will also be used to support effective resource management through the development of a national resource management system, an inventory of federal response assets, and the development of a national credentialing system.

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Emergency preparedness deadlines loom
Officials push for progress on managing national incidents
BY Diane Frank
Oct. 11, 2004

In a letter to governors last month, Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge urged government leaders to prepare for participation in the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Federal, state and local officials are required to be part of NIMS by the end of 2007.

According to the timeline in Ridge's letter, state and local officials should evaluate which parts of NIMS need improvement in fiscal 2006. If they have not met the fiscal 2007 deadline, DHS officials can deny federal emergency preparedness funding for those agencies, said Gil Jamieson, acting director of the NIMS Integration Center.

He testified Sept. 29 before the House Select Committee on Homeland Security's Emergency Preparedness and Response Subcommittee.

Officials at all levels of government have cited NIMS as a critical factor in their ability to respond during tests of homeland security preparedness. At a hearing last month, Michael Freeman, chairman of the International Association of Fire Chiefs' Terrorism and Homeland Security Committee, described NIMS as "an efficient and effective way to bring resources together to respond to large-scale incidents."

At the core of NIMS is the Incident Command System, which was developed in the 1990s to manage multiple jurisdictions battling wildfires. "ICS clearly works on a large scale," Freeman said, adding that it also is useful for managing small, daily incidents.

NIMS benefits health care workers by covering critical gaps in incident management, said Dr. Joseph Barbera, co-director of the Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management at George Washington University.

Community health employees discovered the system's benefits during exercises nationwide, including DHS' TopOff 2 drill in the Chicago area last year, said Barbera, who served as an observer for the Department of Health and Human Services.

DHS officials developed NIMS as a framework for baseline capabilities across all levels of government. The system ensures that when an attack or natural disaster occurs, public safety officials can quickly establish a coordinated response.

"It's a balance between flexibility and standardization," said Michelle McQueeney, a program specialist at the NIMS Integration Center's Standards and Resources Branch. She spoke at the recent annual conference of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers in Chicago.

NIMS helps with standards, training and other issues that fall within several broad categories, such as command and management.

In each of those areas, officials at the NIMS Integration Center will assist with and expand programs in other parts of DHS, such as the Safecom program and other agency initiatives, McQueeney said. Safecom officials are developing standards for making communications systems interoperable.

Technology plays a role in all of those areas, but funding is also a consideration, said Jim Dillon, CIO for the state of New York. States are beginning to pull out of the economic difficulties that have caused massive spending cuts in the past few years, and officials at local governments are struggling to prioritize spending on everything from emergency response to education, he said.

McQueeney said officials at the integration center, created in June, are helping agency officials with many tasks, such as justifying emergency preparedness funding to budget officials. They also are trying to offset some costs through centralized resources such as online training.

Center officials will work, when necessary, on integrating systems. Building a national credential database from state databases will be required for NIMS.

***

Ridge issues schedule

Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge set deadlines for federal, state and local government officials to participate in the National Incident Management System (NIMS), a system for coordinating responses to terrorist attacks or other crises. Fiscal 2005 will be a start-up year, and in fiscal 2006, improvements will be made. After fiscal 2007, officials of state and local governments will not receive federal emergency preparedness grants until they can fully participate in NIMS.

In fiscal 2005, state and local government officials must, at a minimum, begin:

Incorporating NIMS into training programs and exercises.
Ensuring that federal preparedness grants support NIMS at state and local levels.
Incorporating NIMS into emergency operations plans.
Promoting intrastate mutual aid agreements.
Coordinating and providing technical assistance to local entities for NIMS.
Institutionalizing the use of the Incident Command System.
Source: NIMS Integration Center

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New incident system for telecommunicators
By Karl Chalabala
Tue, Oct 12, 2004
Delaware

A new system to handle emergencies from a nuclear holocaust to a car crash is going into place across the country. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) will give emergency personnel, state agencies and the military standardized protocols to follow when emergencies occur.

NIMS became effective March 1, and by Oct. 1, 2005, it will be the mandated standard across the country.

The Association of Public-Safety Communication Officials (APCO) held a training conference for telecommunicators in Dewey Beach over the weekend. Emergency personnel, first-responders and dispatchers from Delmarva heard NIMS explained for the first time during the conference.

“ We learned a lot from 9-11 where a bunch of agencies were working on one thing together,” said Delaware State Police Lt. Ron Hagan. “The fire service has been using NIMS for 30 years after the large wildfires out west. When the federal government said they wanted a standard system, the fire service said they already had one.”

NIMS revolves around six principles. The first is that every group that might respond to an emergency must have NIMS-trained staff.

The second principle is preparedness.

“ If you know a hurricane is coming, you know what you are going to need during the incident,” Hagan said. “You can get the ball rolling.”

NIMS preparedness mandates mutual aid agreements to share equipment and personnel, public outreach efforts to prevent death or injuries, structural retrofitting and insurance to save property.

The next NIMS principle is resource management. NIMS mandates a protocol to describe and inventory resources, as well as methods for deploying, using and retrieving those resources before and after emergencies.

The third principle, which most affects public safety communications officials, is communications and information management.

“ It’s nice to know when I’m working on the radio with the fire service that I can get through to DelDOT (Department of Transportation) without jumping through a lot of hoops,” Hagan said of the benefits of NIMS. “Interoperability is the key word here.”

NIMS communications and information management aims to develop and maintain overall awareness and understanding of an incident within and across jurisdictions, according to their manual.

The next NIMS principle concerns supporting technologies. NIMS mandates research and development efforts be made to ensure emergency responders receive the best technology available.

The last NIMS principle is the on-going management and maintenance protocol, which concerns the overall management of the NIMS system.

Anyone interested in NIMS can find the complete explanation on the web site, www.fema.gov.

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FEMA Releases New Study Course for Disaster Response Personnel
Available at the National Emergency Training Center virtual campus
By News Story - October 2004

Michael D. Brown, under secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, announced recently the release of the new IS-200 Basic Incident Command System course for federal disaster workers and all emergency personnel with disaster response duties.

"We continue to design and deliver educational materials to support basic Incident Command System knowledge and the National Incident Management System," said Brown. "President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge continue to move the nation rapidly toward the implementation of a National Incident Management System, and FEMA continues to rapidly develop the support materials for this national initiative."

This course is designed to identify ICS features and principles, describing in more detail elements such as: Establishment & Transfer of Command, Management by Objectives, Unified Command, ICS Management Functions, Organizational Flexibility, Unity and Chain of Command, Span of Control, Incident Action Plans, Resource Management, Common Terminology and Clear Text, Integrated Communications, and Personnel Accountability. A disaster scenario threads throughout the course to describe the common responsibilities associated with incident assignments from a federal disaster response workforce perspective.

This course has been developed to compliment the I-100 course for federal disaster workers, and to take the student's education to the ICS 200 level. The specific target audience is the FEMA disaster response workforce and others involved in disaster response to the Incident Command System. IS-200 does not replace the IS-195 Basic ICS course, but serves as a companion especially developed for federal disaster workers.

Register and complete the course online on the National Emergency Training Center virtual campus.

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Preparing for worst
Columbus, Muscogee officials participate in national emergency training exercise
BY PAT GILLESPIE Staff Writer
Fri, Oct. 01, 2004
Columbus, GA

Muscogee County and Columbus emergency officials got to see Thursday almost what they would have to do if the Oklahoma City bombing happened here.

About 60 officials were hand-picked to participate in National Incident Management System training, the first standardized approach to incident management and response. Developed by the Department of Homeland Security, it establishes a uniform set of processes and procedures that emergency officials will use to conduct response operations.

Thursday's mock training exercise broke the group into two teams in which fire, law enforcement and emergency medical services personnel were asked to respond to the downtown area after a "loud and vicious explosion" was heard on a Monday morning. The scenario was set to an April day when hundreds of visitors are in town for a convention. In the Oklahoma City bombing, an explosive-laden truck was detonated at the curb of the Murrah building on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people.

Learning experience

Fire Capt. Mike Russell, who acted as a dispatcher for one team, said the exercise taught him that communication is critical to responding to a situation like that.

"It was extremely hard to keep track of everybody," he said, adding that it would be difficult to respond effectively to something similar to the Oklahoma City bombing. "It's going to be a mess, especially with the resources we have."

Communication between supervisors and units on the scene seemed difficult at times, especially when fire officials who were responding from the scene received new information and were trying to report it.

"I think they did well," said Battalion Chief Bobby Dutton, who helped to organize the weeklong training. "We made mistakes, but that was expected."

Explosions were reported at the Government Center, the Wyndham Hotel and the Columbus Convention & Trade Center.

Dutton said one of the biggest problems is trying to treat the wounded, get to the scene to see what actually happened and preserving evidence while securing the scene.

"We need more training in disaster situation," he said. "If we get that down, house fires, bank robberies will be no problem."

Capt. Rick Kelly, of the Muscogee County Sheriff's Department, said the part of the training that was important to him was making sure to break down communication barriers between departments.

"We need to get everyone on the same page," he said. "No one agency can do this on their own without the help of every other agency."

Columbus Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief Roy Waters said he was pleased with the response.

"You see how much smoother an operation would work now, because they communicate and understand their responsibilities," he said. "I'm so pleased -- there was a lot of enthusiasm in this room, a lot of understanding, a lot of cooperation."

Contact Pat Gillespie at (706) 571-8622 or pgillespie@ledger-enquirer.com

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Miramar program improves hurricane response
By Laura Burdick-Sherman Special Correspondent
October 1 2004
South Florida

As Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne pounded parts of the state, Miramar utilized its new emergency response system, known as NIMS, or National Incident Management System.

More than 250 city personnel practiced using the national system out of Fire Station 84 during Frances, communicating with other command centers at the city's other fire stations, water treatment plants, and Police and Public Works departments. Romeo Lavarias, Miramar Fire-Rescue spokesman, said the main advantage of the new system is that it allows police, fire and other city departments to "speak the same language."

" The Police Department looks at a house and the front, they call it a color, but for the Fire Department, we number the different parts of the building. That's just our city talking to ourselves; imagine when you get other police departments and fire departments," he said, referring to future communication between cities.

Operations, logistics, planning and finance are the four functions that work in tandem during an incident to simplify communication and utilize resources more efficiently with NIMS, he said. Operations include police, fire and public works personnel dispatched before, during and after the incident. Logistics orchestrates supplies and equipment. Planning involves strategizing for damage assessment, needed manpower, debris cleanup and demobilization. Finance maintains records of expenses incurred during a disaster.

Last week, Jeanne provided Miramar with yet another opportunity to utilize NIMS, Lavarias said. "We were able to address issues we had not been able to do during other hurricanes. A lot of city departments that had not had an active role in hurricanes in the past are realizing that under the NIMS, they have an active if not equal responsibility during the hurricane," Lavarias said.

Getting the Finance Department involved early in the process, for example, provided the availability of cash and credit cards in the event the city needed to purchase items.

Carl Fowler, spokesman for the Broward Emergency Management Agency and training coordinator, praised Miramar on its forward thinking.

"Obviously it's going to be beneficial. Miramar really has done a lot of innovative things," Fowler said.

Most of Broward County, he said, operates under a framework called "Emergency Support Functions," which includes 19 emergency functions such as transportation, public works, communication, information and planning and mass care. He said this system meshes well with NIMS and involves private industry as well as other cities.

"When the time comes [for changeover to NIMS], we will have to make minor adjustments," Fowler said.

In addition to Miramar, the city of Coral Springs is certified in NIMS. But the city's emergency management coordinator, Capt. Jeff Maslan, said they did not use NIMS during Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne because these were considered local events for the city.

"Overall, it's a local event for us with statewide damage, so we were still able to control our operation with [our Incident Command System]. Although we utilized ICS, I can understand why Miramar utilized NIMS in order to exercise that format of control," he said.

Coral Springs is in the process of revamping its plan to mirror the national, state and county response ones, with a target date of October or November.

NIMS was created in response to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, which requires that all departments and agencies in state and local governments implement NIMS, said Gil Jamieson, acting director of NIMS Integration Center in Washington, D.C. He said the concept was initiated by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in March to establish a National Incident Management System.

"[NIMS] provides the basis for far more organized preparedness and response operations. If you have a commander at the local level, it's pretty straightforward, but if you start responding to a large disaster, you get resources and people coming at you from all over the place," he said. "With NIMS, we're using common standards and organization. It's a much more efficient posture to speed both the response and recovery process."

The city's first NIMS drill took place in August 2003, and the next two practice drills were canceled. With the approach of Hurricane Charley, city officials decided to practice using the system.

"We did minor activation and sent four rescue and engine crews to Charlotte County during Charley. Then Frances came along and we had all activity coordinated out of the Unified Command Center at Fire Station 84," Lavarias said.

The Fire Department received about 160 calls during the weekend of Frances -- double the usual number, he said. The city experienced minimal power outages, typical debris such as broken branches, but no extensive damage, flooding or fatalities.

City Manager Bob Payton, who was at Fire Station 84 during Frances, said he was very pleased with the city's efforts.

"In close to 30 years that I've been associated with storms and natural disasters, this was by far the most well-orchestrated effort as far as storm preparation and cleanup," Payton said. "We were ready in all aspects and we're ready should the real thing happen." The city plans to move the Unified Command Center to the Sunset Lakes Community Center when a generator is secured. Equipment and personnel will be moved within the next two months, Lavarias said.