This page is aimed at providing background information on Federal and State policies for disaster management programs. The National Fire Protection Association’s 1660 Standard for Emergency, Continuity and Crisis Management: Preparedness, Response and Recovery programs is intended to incorporate policy into guidelines.
The voluntary Emergency Management Accreditation Program is based on the NFPA 1660 standards.
The California Emergency Services Association also adopted a Definition, Vision, Mission and Principles for Emergency Management.
The February 26, 2021 document, National Preparedness: A Summary and Select Issues by the independent National Congressional Research Service, gives an overview of Federal policy decisions pertaining to disaster management programs.
Federal Policy & Guides (partial list)
- Relevant Disaster Legislation and Materials — from U.S. Department of Interior
- FEMA Whole Community Approach to Disaster Preparedness. The Whole Community approach is a fundamental FEMA Guiding Principle. Preparedness is a shared responsibility across stakeholders in the whole community.
- 2011 Presidential Policy Directive 8. NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS GOAL. FEMA National Preparedness Goal Mission Areas and Core Capabilities.PPD-8 shifted the focus from “response” to preparedness across the disaster management cycle.
- FEMA Local Elected and Appointed Officials Guide: Roles and Resources in Emergency Management (September 2022). LANDING PAGE. Guide. Quick Reference Guide. Checklist. FEMA produces many other guides across all phases of disaster management planning.
Menlo Park Fire Protection District (MPFPD) DRAFT CERT Program Documents
The below DRAFT documents were recently distributed by the MPFPD’s Volunteer Coordinator along with an invitation to a meeting to discuss them. We encourage interested parties to closely read them and to attend the upcoming October 4, 2023 meeting with the Fire District’s new Community Resilience Unit. Volunteers can play an important role in a community’s overall disaster preparedness efforts. How the CERTs, HAMs and block coordinators work together before and during a disaster need discussing. Ideally, we all work together collaboratively without overlapping or duplicating effort. The Fire District is also holding an October 26 meeting to learn more about the CERT Levels 1,2 and 3.
- Community Group Engagement Guidelines (Fire District’s Perspective)
- CERT Standard Operating Procedures
- CERT Participation Levels
- CERT Neighborhood Leader
- CERT Communications Team
- CERT District Trainers
- CERT Trailer Team
The neighborhood-level disaster preparedness groups, such as MPC Ready, ADAPT, North Fair Oaks Community Alliance Block Action Team and rEPAct build neighborhood-level disaster preparedness. These efforts start with the role of Block Coordinator. Many Block Coordinators are also CERTS and even a HAM. The trained CERT reporting model also varies per county/jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions, a Fire District trains the CERTS who then report into a local jurisdiction. The jurisdictions also need to be part of the discussion as to how best to prepare residents to be self-sufficient until outside help can arrive.