FEMA: 32 core capabilities identified in the National Preparedness Goal
July 7th, 2017These capabilities are referenced in many national preparedness efforts, including the National Planning Frameworks. The Goal grouped the capabilities into five mission areas, based on where they most logically fit. Some fall into only one mission area, while some others apply to several mission areas.
Planning
- Mission Areas: All
- Description: Conduct a systematic process engaging the whole community as appropriate in the development of executable strategic, operational, and/or tactical-level approaches to meet defined objectives.
Public Information and Warning
- Mission Areas: All
- Description: Deliver coordinated, prompt, reliable, and actionable information to the whole community through the use of clear, consistent, accessible, and culturally and linguistically appropriate methods to effectively relay information regarding any threat or hazard, as well as the actions being taken and the assistance being made available, as appropriate.
Operational Coordination
- Mission Areas: All
- Description: Establish and maintain a unified and coordinated operational structure and process that appropriately integrates all critical stakeholders and supports the execution of core capabilities.
Forensics and Attribution
- Mission Area: Prevention
- Description: Conduct forensic analysis and attribute terrorist acts (including the means and methods of terrorism) to their source, to include forensic analysis as well as attribution for an attack and for the preparation for an attack in an effort to prevent initial or follow-on acts and/or swiftly develop counter-options.
Intelligence and Information Sharing
- Mission Areas: Prevention, Protection
- Description: Provide timely, accurate, and actionable information resulting from the planning, direction, collection, exploitation, processing, analysis, production, dissemination, evaluation, and feedback of available information concerning physical and cyber threats to the United States, its people, property, or interests; the development, proliferation, or use of WMDs; or any other matter bearing on U.S. national or homeland security by local, state, tribal, territorial, Federal, and other stakeholders. Information sharing is the ability to exchange intelligence, information, data, or knowledge among government or private sector entities, as appropriate.
Interdiction and Disruption
- Mission Areas: Prevention, Protection
- Description: Delay, divert, intercept, halt, apprehend, or secure threats and/or hazards.
Screening, Search, and Detection
- Mission Areas: Prevention, Protection
- Description: Identify, discover, or locate threats and/or hazards through active and passive surveillance and search procedures. This may include the use of systematic examinations and assessments, biosurveillance, sensor technologies, or physical investigation and intelligence.
Access Control and Identity Verification
- Mission Area: Protection
- Description: Apply and support necessary physical, technological, and cyber measures to control admittance to critical locations and systems.
Cybersecurity
- Mission Area: Protection
- Description: Protect (and if needed, restore) electronic communications systems, information, and services from damage, unauthorized use, and exploitation.
Physical Protective Measures
- Mission Area: Protection
- Description: Implement and maintain risk-informed countermeasures, and policies protecting people, borders, structures, materials, products, and systems associated with key operational activities and critical infrastructure sectors.
Risk Management for Protection Programs and Activities
- Mission Area: Protection
- Description: Identify, assess, and prioritize risks to inform Protection activities, countermeasures, and investments.
Supply Chain Integrity and Security
- Mission Area: Protection
- Description: Strengthen the security and resilience of the supply chain.
Community Resilience
- Mission Area: Mitigation
- Description: Enable the recognition, understanding, communication of, and planning for risk and empower individuals and communities to make informed risk management decisions necessary to adapt to, withstand, and quickly recover from future incidents.
Long-term Vulnerability Reduction
- Mission Area: Mitigation
- Description: Build and sustain resilient systems, communities, and critical infrastructure and key resources lifelines so as to reduce their vulnerability to natural, technological, and human-caused threats and hazards by lessening the likelihood, severity, and duration of the adverse consequences.
Risk and Disaster Resilience Assessment
- Mission Area: Mitigation
- Description: Assess risk and disaster resilience so that decision makers, responders, and community members can take informed action to reduce their entity’s risk and increase their resilience.
Threats and Hazards Identification
- Mission Area: Mitigation
- Description: Identify the threats and hazards that occur in the geographic area; determine the frequency and magnitude; and incorporate this into analysis and planning processes so as to clearly understand the needs of a community or entity.
Critical Transportation
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Provide transportation (including infrastructure access and accessible transportation services) for response priority objectives, including the evacuation of people and animals, and the delivery of vital response personnel, equipment, and services into the affected areas.
Environmental Response/Health and Safety
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Conduct appropriate measures to ensure the protection of the health and safety of the public and workers, as well as the environment, from all-hazards in support of responder operations and the affected communities.
Fatality Management Services
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Provide fatality management services, including decedent remains recovery and victim identification, working with local, state, tribal, territorial, insular area, and Federal authorities to provide mortuary processes, temporary storage or permanent internment solutions, sharing information with mass care services for the purpose of reunifying family members and caregivers with missing persons/remains, and providing counseling to the bereaved.
Fire Management and Suppression
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Provide structural, wildland, and specialized firefighting capabilities to manage and suppress fires of all types, kinds, and complexities while protecting the lives, property, and the environment in the affected area.
Infrastructure Systems
- Mission Area: Response, Recovery
- Description: Stabilize critical infrastructure functions, minimize health and safety threats, and efficiently restore and revitalize systems and services to support a viable, resilient community.
Logistics and Supply Chain Management
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Deliver essential commodities, equipment, and services in support of impacted communities and survivors, to include emergency power and fuel support, as well as the coordination of access to community staples. Synchronize logistics capabilities and enable the restoration of impacted supply chains.
Mass Care Services
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Provide life-sustaining and human services to the affected population, to include hydration, feeding, sheltering, temporary housing, evacuee support, reunification, and distribution of emergency supplies.
Mass Search and Rescue Operations
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Deliver traditional and atypical search and rescue capabilities, including personnel, services, animals, and assets to survivors in need, with the goal of saving the greatest number of endangered lives in the shortest time possible.
On-scene Security, Protection, and Law Enforcement
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Ensure a safe and secure environment through law enforcement and related security and protection operations for people and communities located within affected areas and also for response personnel engaged in lifesaving and life-sustaining operations.
Operational Communications
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Ensure the capacity for timely communications in support of security, situational awareness, and operations by any and all means available, among and between affected communities in the impact area and all response forces.
Public Health, Healthcare, and Emergency Medical Services
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Provide lifesaving medical treatment via Emergency Medical Services and related operations and avoid additional disease and injury by providing targeted public health, medical, and behavioral health support, and products to all affected populations.
Situational Assessment
- Mission Area: Response
- Description: Provide all decision makers with decision-relevant information regarding the nature and extent of the hazard, any cascading effects, and the status of the response.
Economic Recovery
- Mission Area: Recovery
- Description: Return economic and business activities (including food and agriculture) to a healthy state and develop new business and employment opportunities that result in an economically viable community.
Health and Social Services
- Mission Area: Recovery
- Description: Restore and improve health and social services capabilities and networks to promote the resilience, independence, health (including behavioral health), and well-being of the whole community.
Housing
- Mission Area: Recovery
- Description: Implement housing solutions that effectively support the needs of the whole community and contribute to its sustainability and resilience.
Natural and Cultural Resources
- Mission Area: Recovery
- Description: Protect natural and cultural resources and historic properties through appropriate planning, mitigation, response, and recovery actions to preserve, conserve, rehabilitate, and restore them consistent with post-disaster community priorities and best practices and in compliance with applicable environmental and historic preservation laws and executive orders.