The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders on April 1, 1979. The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the President that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster. The only exception to the state's gubernatorial declaration requirement occurs when an emergency or disaster takes place on federal property or to a federal asset—for example, the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or the Space Shuttle Columbia in the 2003 return-flight disaster.
Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, 0.3 miles (0.5 km) south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrimage sites: the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, which is on the campus of Mount St. Mary's, and the Basilica and National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was the first native-born United States citizen to be canonized as a saint. The Seton Shrine is one of the top eight Catholic pilgrimage destinations in the United States.
The Federal Protective Service (FPS) is the uniformed police security division of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is also "the federal agency charged with protecting and delivering integrated law enforcement and security services to facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration (GSA)"—over 9,000 buildings—and their occupants.
Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actually focus on the management of emergencies, which can be understood as minor events with limited impacts and are managed through the day to day functions of a community. Instead, emergency management focuses on the management of disasters, which are events that produce more impacts than a community can handle on its own. The management of disasters tends to require some combination of activity from individuals and households, organizations, local, and/or higher levels of government. Although many different terminologies exist globally, the activities of emergency management can be generally categorized into preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery, although other terms such as disaster risk reduction and prevention are also common. The outcome of emergency management is to prevent disasters and where this is not possible, to reduce their harmful impacts.
The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) is a system established by the National Fire Data Center of the United States Fire Administration (USFA), a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The System was established after the 1973 National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control report, America Burning, led to passage of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, which authorizes the USFA to gather and analyze information on the magnitude of the Nation's fire problem, as well as its detailed characteristics and trends. The Act further authorizes the USFA to develop uniform data reporting methods, and to encourage and assist state agencies in developing and reporting data.
Firefighter rehabilitation is a vital firefighting service, providing firefighters and other emergency personnel with immediate medical attention including rehydration, treatment for smoke inhalation, and the prevention of life-threatening conditions such as heatstroke and heart attack after working at the scene of an incident. Firefighter rehabilitation can include a variety of things from a simple check up to deciding whether or not the firefighter needs to see a doctor. The rehabilitation area is set up in a safe location near the incident so that it can be accessible to any emergency responders who may need it.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is a United States Department of Transportation agency created in 2004, responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the US's 2.8 million mile pipeline transportation. It is responsible for nearly 1 million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea, and air. It oversees the nation's pipeline infrastructure, which accounts for 64 percent of the energy commodities consumed in the United States. Made up of the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) and the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS).
The United States’ Emergency Management Institute (EMI), of the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), serves as the United States’ focal point for the development and delivery of emergency management training. The emergency management training enhances the capabilities of state, territorial, local, and tribal government officials; volunteer organizations; FEMA's disaster workforce; other Federal agencies; and the public and private sectors to minimize the impact of disasters and emergencies on the American public. EMI curricula are structured to meet the needs of this diverse audience, with an emphasis on separate organizations working together in all-hazards emergencies to save lives and protect property. Particular emphasis is placed on governing doctrine, such as, the National Response Framework (NRF), National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the National Preparedness Guidelines. EMI is fully accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and the American Council on Education (ACE). The instruction is based upon the principles of Emergency Management and instructional systems design. This instruction creates a framework within whole community to reduce vulnerability to hazards and to cope with disasters. EMI develops courses and implements training delivery systems to include residential onsite training; offsite delivery in partnership with Emergency Management training systems, colleges, and universities; and technology-based mediums to conduct individual training courses for Emergency Management and Response personnel across the United States.
In 1976, an outbreak of the swine flu, influenza A virus subtype H1N1 at Fort Dix, New Jersey caused one death, hospitalized 13, and led to a mass immunization program. After the program began, the vaccine was associated with an increase in reports of Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS), which can cause paralysis, respiratory arrest, and death. The immunization program was ended after approximately 25% of the population of the United States had been administered the vaccine.
The National Fire Academy (NFA) is one of two schools in the United States operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Operated and governed by the United States Fire Administration (USFA) as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the NFA is the country’s pre-eminent federal fire training and education institution. The original purpose of the NFA as detailed in a 1973 report to Congress was to "function as the core of the Nation's efforts in fire service education—feeding out model programs, curricula, and information..."
The Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) was founded in 1996. It is a nonprofit organization working in the United States and Canada. HFSC's web site details its mission statement and board members. For several years, the United States Fire Administration has had a partnership with HFSC. Since 1997, HFSC has worked with Ron Hazelton as its spokesperson. HFSC has earned several federal Fire Prevention & Safety Grants, primarily to develop free educational materials for use by fire departments. In 2010, HFSC collaborated with FM Global to study the environmental impact of home fires.
The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 was created in response to the 1973 National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control report, America Burning. The report's authors estimated fires caused 12,000 deaths, 300,000 serious injuries and $11.4 billion in property damage annually in the United States, asserting that "the richest and most technologically advanced nation in the world leads all the major industrialized countries in per capita deaths and property loss from fire." The report proposed that a federal agency be established to help combat the growing problem of fatal fires happening throughout the country. The S. 1769 legislation was passed by the 93rd Congressional session and enacted by the 38th President of the United States Gerald Ford on October 29, 1974.
Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act of 1990 was established to acknowledge the evolving apprehension of fire safety criteria for the hospitality industry. The United States federal statute was an amendment to the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 implementing an adjunct promoting fire and life safety decrees for domiciles providing public accommodations.
David Allen Lucht is an American engineer and fire safety expert. His career was devoted to public service in government, academia and the nonprofit sector. He served as the Ohio State Fire Marshal; the first presidential appointee to serve in the United States Fire Administration and the inaugural head of the graduate degree fire protection engineering program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he served for 25 years
The National Emergency Training Center (NETC) serves as an interagency emergency management training body for the United States government. The college campus was purchased by the U.S. Government in 1979 for use as the National Emergency Training Center. NETC is home to the National Fire Academy, United States Fire Administration, Emergency Management Institute (EMI), which is operated by the Directorate of Preparedness branch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The campus also includes the learning resource center (LRC) library, the National Fire Data Center, and the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial.
Robert J. Fenton Jr is an American governmental official who worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1996 and was appointed Regional Administrator for FEMA Region IX: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and the Pacific Islands in July 2015. He had a leadership role in the development of the National Incident Management System and the National Response Framework.
G. Keith Bryant is an American firefighter and the current head of the US Fire Administration.
Peter Thomas Gaynor is an American Certified Emergency Manager who served briefly as acting Secretary of Homeland Security under President Trump. Gaynor previously served as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He was appointed as Acting Administrator by President Donald Trump on March 8, 2019, and became Administrator on January 16, 2020.
Deanne Bennett Criswell is an American emergency management officer who has served as the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency since April 2021. Criswell is the first woman to lead FEMA. She was previously the commissioner of the New York City Emergency Management Office.
