DHS produces national incident response plan

DHS produces national incident response plan    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Thursday unveiled a unified plan setting out how federal agencies would coordinate with state and local governments, the private sector and international associations in the case of a domestic disaster, terrorist threat or attack.
   A top priority for Secretary Tom Ridge before he leaves office this year, the National Response Plan provides a common playbook to help organizations plan and react to emergencies. It establishes standardized training, organization and communication procedures through a national incident response system and identifies who has authority for certain duties during a crisis. The plan also provides a framework for businesses, especially those that own critical types of infrastructure,    to map their own business continuity and emergency response activities with those of national and local responders.
   “With the National Response Plan our nation and its … response communities now have a comprehensive, all-hazards tool for domestic incident management across the spectrum of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery,” Ridge said in a statement.
   The plan, which replaces several interim response plans, was developed by teams from all levels of government, with input from the private sector. It incorporates best practices and procedures from law enforcement, public health, the private sector and other fields.
   “The business community is encouraged by the plan’s embrace of the private sector as a full partner in national response planning,” said Andrew Howell, vice president of homeland security for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a statement. “This long overdue change defines private sector roles and responsibilities that have previously been established in an ad hoc manner once a crisis has occurred. By setting out roles now, the private sector’s expertise and resources will be better utilized.”