Federal
Bureau of
Investigation

National Domestic Preparedness Office

The National Domestic Preparedness Office coordinates all federal efforts, including those of the Department of Defense, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency, to assist state and local first responders with planning, training, equipment, and exercise necessary to respond to a conventional or non-conventional weapon of mass destruction (WMD) incident.

The Department of Justice, through the FBI , will coordinate the domestic preparedness programs and activities of this nation to ensure that a robust crisis and consequence management infrastructure is established to address the threat posed by terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction.

The NDPO serves as a single program and policy office for WMD.  It will ensure that federal efforts are in harmony and represent the most effective and cost-efficient support to the state and local first responder community.

The NDPO  will concentrate and target the expertise and assets of the federal government to reduce confusion and duplication of effort, as well as improve the quality of assistance offered.

The NDPO functional program areas provide a seamless network of domestic preparedness support.  Underpinning the services provided to the federal, state and local responder community is an improved intelligence and information sharing apparatus to distribute lessons learned, asset/capabilities information, and general readiness knowledge.

Training
The NDPO coordinates the establishment of training curriculum and standards for first responder training to ensure consistency based upon training objectives and to tailor training opportunities to meet the needs of the responder community.

 
Equipment
The NDPO will facilitate and coordinate the efforts of the federal government to provide the responder community with detection, protection, analysis, and decontamination equipment necessary to prepare for, and respond to, an incident involving WMD.

 
Exercises
The NDPO exercise program seeks to provide state and local governments with the resources and expertise necessary to design, conduct, and evaluate exercise scenarios involving WMD. 

 
Planning
The NDPO will be responsible for harmonizing federal, state, and local WMD preparedness planning and policy.

 
Information Sharing/Outreach
The Information Sharing Program communicates information directly to the state and local emergency response community through the Internet, the Law Enforcement Online intranet, special bulletins, and The Beacon, a monthly newsletter.

 
Health/Medical Services
The Health/Medical Services Program ensures that the health and medical community perspectives and needs are coordinated and fully incorporated into other NDPO program areas and are reflected as a priority in the overall NDPO program. 
 

The NDPO serves as the single point of contact for the federal, state, and local WMD responder community.

The Forum

The State and Local Domestic Preparedness Stakeholders Forum consisted of more than 200 state and local emergency response planners and practitioners from across the nation, meeting at the invitation of the Attorney General to discuss current federal efforts to help them prepare for and respond to acts of terrorism.   Over the two days of the Forum, these fire/hazmat, law enforcement, medical, and emergency management professionals identified needs and recommended solutions in an effort to assist in structuring a cooperative approach to this grave challenge.  Ultimately, the attendees presented the Attorney General with strategic recommendations in five critical areas, reflecting a broad consensus among all the participating responder disciplines and jurisdictions, large and small.

The Process

On the first day of the conference, participants were assigned to working groups broken out along functional/professional lines (Law Enforcement, Fire/Hazmat, Medical/EMS, City Emergency Management, State Emergency Management).   These functional workgroups were asked to identify critical needs and propose solutions, with the six most important being reported out in a plenary session at the end of day one.  Literally hundreds of needs and possible actions were listed, but a priority list totaling 30 need/solution sets was submitted by the five working groups.   These 30 need/solution sets were, in turn, placed into categories and assigned to five multidisciplinary groups on day two.  The multidisciplinary groups were tasked with developing practical strategies for addressing the needs and realizing solutions, and with reporting them out to the Attorney General and other key federal officals in a final plenary session.

The Strategies

The following is a summary of the key strategy recommendations developed by the state and local stakeholders.  They reflect each of the five working groups consensus recommendations for Federal action intended to enhance the effectiveness of all government agencies in responses to acts of domestic terrorism.

Group One:  National Policy

 

  • The President should identify a single lead Federal agency to implement Domestic Preparedness.
  • The President should establish an Advisory Group drawn from all stakeholder jurisdictions.
  • Within 6 months, the lead agency, with the Advisory Group, should produce a comprehensive systematic plan for implementation of Training, Equipment Acquisition, Infrastructure Improvements, Intelligence Sharing, Operational Procedure and Process Enhancements, Sustainment of Training and Equipment, and Public Awareness Education.

 

Group Two: Communications and Intelligence

 

  • Support creation of a nationwide, standardized communications system that addresses: Interoperability Among Responders, Secure Access, New Technology, Sustainability, and Removal of Regulatory Impediments.
  • Improve the intelligence-sharing process to reflect an understanding of the real-time roles and responsibilities of local, state, and federal governments before, during and after a terrorist event.

 

Group Three: Equipment

 

  • Develop a matrix of recommended protective levels for various responder disciplines.
  • Establish a federal-level equipment information clearinghouse to provide data and feedback on R&D, equipment availability, and operational testing and performance data.
  • Disburse federal funds to state and local governments for purchases of terrorism response equipment; allow these jurisdictions, if they desire, to utilize the Federal procurement system.
  • Facilitate responder access to state-of-the-art commercial and Department of Defense detection, personal protective equipment, and communications technologies.
  • Support establishment, supply and maintenance of regional pharmaceutical and medical equipment caches.
  • Departments of Justice and Defense establish procedures for rapid access to community-based federal assets as a supplement to first responder anti-terrorism equipment and personnel.

 

Group Four: Training

 

  • Develop a single, integrated federal training program based on needs assessment.  Use the national standard (NFPA 472, 473) as the basis for training.   Use existing training delivery mechanisms when available.
  • Ensure a sustained training and exercise effort.  Reimburse local jurisdictions for personnel costs associated with ongoing training.  Develop a plan to update training materials.
  • Collect information on new technology and response techniques and get the information to the response community.  Establish a single source information "clearinghouse."
  • Reduce redundancy and prioritize training to state and local jurisdictions.

 

Group Five: Operational Procedures and Processes

 

  • Develop and implement a standardized, coordinated integrated response system that includes common principles of the widely accepted command systems.
  • Establish procedures and protocols for sharing threat assessments and information, including a national policy for threat-based information sharing.   Establish a multi-disciplinary task force to develop criteria and protocols for sharing critical information.
  • Integrate the health care community into the planning, evaluation, and implementation of the nation's response to terrorism.  Provide comprehensive programs to ensure awareness, education, and training.  Finally, provide the means to improve communications with other disciplines.

 

Contact Information

Telephone
    General          202-324-8186
 
Facsimile
    202-324-8686 

 

Sources and Methods