1. 2014 National Preparedness Report August 6, 2014

2. National Preparedness Report
The annual National Preparedness Report (NPR) summarizes progress in building, sustaining, and delivering the 31 core capabilities outlined in the National Preparedness Goal
The 2014 NPR is the third iteration of the report, focusing on major events and accomplishments achieved or reported on in 2013
Presidential Policy Directive 8 (issued in March 2011) requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit an annual report to the President gauging progress in national preparedness.
The NPR presents an opportunity to reflect on the progress that whole community partners—including all levels of government, private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations, communities, and individuals—have made in strengthening national preparedness and to identify where preparedness gaps remain.
While the inaugural 2012 NPR highlighted preparedness accomplishments in the decade since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the 2014 NPR, like the 2013 NPR, focuses primarily on accomplishments either achieved or reported on during the preceding year.

3. Background on the 2014 NPR
Conducted outreach with state and local partners, professional organizations, and Federal agencies
Analyzed Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) and State Preparedness Report (SPR) submissions from states, territories, urban areas, and tribes
Emphasized real-world events and clear visuals
Provided mission area overviews for whole community readers
FEMA conducted whole community outreach throughout the process. These whole community partners included: the All Hazards Consortium; American Red Cross; National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD); Security Analysis and Risk Management Association (SARMA); Police Executive Research Forum (PERF); Wal-Mart, Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation (LAEPF); and state/local subject matter experts from NC, WA, CO.
Each core capability section summarizes 2013 State Preparedness Report (SPR) results relevant to that core capability.
31 tribes submitted THIRA data.
The 2014 NPR places an emphasis on approachable language, clear visuals, and concise findings that are useful for preparedness professionals and non-professionals alike.
The Year in Review section highlights major events that took place in 2013 and preparedness actions related to those events.
Mission Area Overviews (featured here) are new to the 2014 NPR and bring a greater whole community focus to the report. These sections bring together findings across mission areas and provide a quick look at 1) trends; 2) whole community accomplishments and best practices; 3) preparedness in action; 4) and resilience innovations.
The 2014 NPR also contains seven overarching findings on national issues.
As available, core capability sections include preparedness case studies, which highlight examples of how whole community partners have worked together to achieve preparedness progress.
The key findings in the report are based on a comprehensive review of over 1,100 sources identifying overarching trends in preparedness progress.

4. Lessons Learned from Real-World Incidents
Boston Marathon Bombing
Preparedness grants helped Boston’s first responders in the marathon bombing response
A 2012 full-scale exercise testing communication and coordination bolstered the region’s rapid response to the bombings
Active Shooter Incidents
In 2013, the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium delivered a course on active shooter emergency response to almost 6,500 law enforcement officers
FEMA released updated guidelines for responding to active shooter and mass casualty incidents
Boston Marathon Bombings
Demonstrated the benefits of advanced planning and exercises.
In preparation for the marathon, regional officials designed response plans and procedures in case of an explosive attack.
The Boston region exercised these plans before the marathon, including a full-scale exercise in November 2012 that tested communication and coordination between Boston’s police and fire departments. Over 600 first responders from 50 agencies participated across 21 different exercise sites
The Boston UASI received more than $179M through the UASI grant program.
The coordinated response by civilian spectators, on-site medical personnel, and law enforcement enabled rapid triage care and patient transportation to readied emergency rooms in nearby hospitals, saving dozens of critically injured survivors.
Former Boston Police Commissioner Davis stated that without preparedness grant funding—specifically the exercises supported through the Urban Areas Security Initiative—the response would have been less comprehensive (U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security April 9, 2014).
Active Shooter Incidents
At least 15 active shooter incidents occurred across the Nation in 2013, resulting in 39 deaths.
The law enforcement community has used lessons learned from previous events to refine tactics to emphasize a more immediate, aggressive response to active shooters.
The FBI conducted 150 active shooter conferences and trained approximately 8,000 regional law enforcement personnel nationwide.
The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium delivered an exercise-driven course on active shooter emergency response in 2013 to almost 6,500 law enforcement officers across the Nation.
FEMA updated training courses related to active shooter incidents and released new guidelines recommending more aggressive emergency medical response actions in active shooter situations to integrate fire and EMS personnel more closely with law enforcement.

5. Sustaining Capabilities to Meet Future Needs
Interdiction and Disruption: International and domestic initiatives have made it more difficult for malicious actors to obtain nuclear and radiological materials
On-scene Security and Protection: The security community continued to make progress in modifying tactics to better address active shooter events
Operational Communications: For the third year in a row, states and territories assessed Operational Communications among their highest-rated capabilities
Public and Private Services and Resources: Wildfire suppression capabilities are relatively mature. A trend toward larger and more complex wildfires increased demand for these capabilities
Public Health and Medical Services: States and territories identified Public Health and Medical Services as a high-rated core capability in training and exercises
The 2014 National Preparedness Report identifies five core capability areas for sustainment in multiple mission areas. These areas for sustainment represent relatively mature capabilities (as demonstrated in assessments, exercises, and performance in real-world events) that may face future capability gaps as current capability levels decline or demands on existing capabilities grow.
Interdiction and Disruption: International and domestic initiatives have made it more difficult for malicious actors to obtain nuclear and radiological materials, and have raised awareness of how they acquire bomb-making materials.
On-scene Security and Protection: In 2013, the security community continued to make progress in modifying tactics to better address active shooter events. Additionally, Federal agencies established availability requirements, plans, and resources to support deployment of Federal law enforcement officers in major incidents. However, in the 2013 State Preparedness Report process, over 60 percent of states and territories cited emerging training gaps due to personnel turnover and attrition as a major concern.
Operational Communications: For the third year in a row, states and territories assessed Operational Communications among their highest-rated capabilities. Although one of the most widely exercised core capabilities in the past five years, Operational Communications faces future uncertainty with large-scale technology transitions to Next Generation and Public Safety Broadband, which provide enhanced voice and data communication capabilities.
Public and Private Services and Resources: Wildfire suppression capabilities are relatively mature, with the National Firefighting Mobilization System capable of moving wild land firefighting and associated resources nationwide in 24 to 48 hours. A trend toward larger and more complex wildfires increased demand for these capabilities.
Public Health and Medical Services: States and territories identified Public Health and Medical Services as a high-rated core capability in training and exercises. Meanwhile, state and local public health agencies face continued budget uncertainties. DHS also identified biological concerns—including bioterrorism, pandemics, foreign animal diseases, and other agricultural concerns—as a top homeland security risk.

6. Addressing National Areas for Improvement
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Systems
Executive Order 13636: Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity resulted in a Cybersecurity Framework outlining voluntary standards and practices to address risk
2013 National Infrastructure Protection Plan provides an updated approach to critical infrastructure security and resilience across mission areas
Long-Term Vulnerability Reduction and Recovery
Sandy drew links between post-disaster recovery and pre- disaster mitigation
2013 Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy outlines new guidelines for Federal funding to increase resilience
The National Drought Resilience Partnership is coordinating Federal activities to help communities plan for, mitigate against, and recover from drought
The 2014 NPR identifies five core capabilities as areas for improvement. Cybersecurity, Health and Social Services, and Housing have been areas for improvement for three consecutive years, Infrastructure systems was identified for a second year, and Long-Term Vulnerability Reduction is new to the 2014 NPR.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Systems
In February 2013, the White House issued Executive Order 13636: Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, which emphasizes improved cybersecurity collaboration and information sharing between the Federal Government and critical infrastructure owners and operators.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology released the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity in February 2014, which assembles voluntary standards, guidelines, and effective practices to address cyber risks.
States and territories have consistently identified Cybersecurity as among their weakest capabilities since the 2011 statewide self-assessment process, while more states and territories highlighted cyber attacks as threats of concern in their 2013 Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment submissions.
DHS released the new National Infrastructure Protection Plan in December 2013 that reflects stakeholder input from the 16 critical infrastructure sectors, the private sector, and all levels of government. The updated plan emphasizes resilience and the integration of physical and cyber protection efforts, as well as risk management and partnerships among the sectors.
Recovery and Long-Term Vulnerability Reduction
The 2013 Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy, was published by the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force in 2013 to establish clearer guidelines for investing Federal funds in the Sandy-affected region. These guidelines seek to align spending with local priorities; deliver assistance more quickly; improve regional coordination; and promote resilient rebuilding.
In January 2014, the Sandy Recovery Office assumed responsibility for coordinating Federal support for the region’s recovery. This office helps ensure that state and local priorities continue to guide Federal assistance and that projects adhere to new guidelines on resilient rebuilding.
The severe national drought from 2012 to 2013 affected more than two-thirds of U.S. counties.
Drought recovery activities unfolded through regional meetings on drought coordination with stakeholders from across the whole community. These meetings focused on improving coordination and maximizing the effectiveness of existing resources.

7. State Perspectives on Preparedness
States and territories assessed themselves highest in the common core capabilities and Response mission area
The SPR is an annual assessment of preparedness required by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 for any state/territory receiving DHS preparedness assistance.
Based on targets set during the preceding Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) process, the SPR assesses preparedness across all 31 core capabilities.
This enables states and territories (and tribes and UASIs where desired) to assess their preparedness capabilities in a structured format and allows for year-over-year trend analysis.
Reported through a standardized survey (Unified Reporting Tool), the SPR provides data to the National Preparedness Report.
The graph summarizes responses from states and territories in the 2013 State Preparedness Report.
Each capability assessment includes ratings for planning, organization, equipment, training, and exercises, using a 5-point scale (where 5 is the highest rating).
Notable results
Operational Coordination received the highest national assessment average—63 percent of responses were a 4 or 5 and thus fell within the top two rating categories.
Recovery-focused capabilities and Cybersecurity remain among the lowest-rated capabilities for the third year in a row.

8. Addressing Capability Gaps
State and territorial views on expected roles for addressing capability gaps vary across capabilities
States and territories identify capability gaps in their SPR submissions. They also note expected responsibilities for addressing capability gaps by selecting whether they expect gaps to be filled entirely by the state, mostly by the state, mostly by federal partners, or entirely by federal partners.
These insights are based solely on state and territory perspectives. These views may diverge from Federal perspectives regarding which level of government is responsible for addressing identified gaps.
The results demonstrate that capabilities fall along a continuum.
At one extreme, 91 percent of respondents indicated that Operational Coordination is a capability where it is mostly or entirely a state responsibility to fill gaps.
Conversely, over 40 percent of respondents reported that the Federal government is expected to fill gaps in state and territory capacity for four capabilities (Fatality Management Services, Housing, Mass Search and Rescue Operations, and Economic Recovery).
In general, states and territories reporting small capability gaps indicated that they intend to fill them by building capability themselves. However, when the capability gap was large, respondents typically suggested greater reliance on Federal support.

9. Vision for Future Reports
The National Preparedness System (NPS) is the approach the Nation will use to build, sustain, and deliver core capabilities to realize the National Preparedness Goal
As the NPS matures, future NPRs will continue to reflect key accomplishments and new partnerships with the whole community
Implementation of National Planning Frameworks and Federal Interagency Operational Plans (FIOPs)
Multi-year results from regional, state, territory, and tribal THIRAs
The Six Components of the NPS
NPS maturity includes comparing THIRA results across years, reporting on the implementation and eventual use of FIOPS, and the effect of the Frameworks on whole community planning.

11. Contact Information
Kathleen Fox Office: John Rabin Office:

12. Background Information by Mission Area

13. Common Core Capabilities
New National Planning Frameworks (Frameworks) unify whole community planning for the Prevention, Response, and Mitigation mission areas
A growing number of states are creating plans to address potential climate change risks
State and local jurisdictions increasingly used the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System in 2013
- The National Protection Framework was not released until The 2014 NPR reports on CY data.

14. Prevention Capabilities
Efforts to engage private-sector partners in intelligence and information sharing continued to expand
Antiterrorism programs increased public awareness of bomb-making supplies and secured nuclear material around the world
Technological improvements and greater interoperability enhanced FBI and DHS use of biometric databases
Emerging technologies introduce opportunities for innovation, as well as implementation challenges for homeland security personnel at all levels of government

15. Protection Capabilities
New guidance, standards, and best practices are promoting enhanced protection of critical infrastructure and cyber systems
The 2013 National Infrastructure Protection Plan details an updated approach to strengthen the security and resilience of critical infrastructure through the integration of cyber and physical security efforts
The Federal Government and the private sector have partnered to increase the availability and utility of risk assessment tools and physical security and protection programs
Government, private-sector, and university researchers are developing and using more secure authentication technologies to improve access to critical facilities and networks

16. Mitigation Capabilities
The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law ) began to address the sustainability of Federal flood insurance by calling for updated flood risk maps and modified flood insurance rates that reflect risk more accurately
Federal partners are assessing the impacts of climate change on key economic sectors and the vulnerability of their missions to climate change and extreme weather
Threat and hazard identification initiatives by state, local, tribal, and territorial partners involved diverse representation from government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other whole community partners to produce an inclusive understanding of threats and hazards

17. Response Capabilities
Released in 2013, a revised National Response Framework identifies 14 Emergency Support Functions as primary coordinating structures for Federal response actions under the Stafford Act, as well as non-Stafford Act incidents
States have significantly improved Enhanced capabilities, but challenges are emerging with financing the transition to Next Generation 9-1-1
In 2013, Federal partners established agreements to expedite resources to states and provide cost-savings to voluntary organizations

18. Recovery Capabilities
The Federal Government has used the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy as a catalyst to accelerate the transformation of disaster recovery programs and to encourage resilient post-disaster rebuilding
Regional coordination of infrastructure investments can increase cost efficiency and resilience
Coordinating post-disaster Federal housing assistance to meet the needs of the Nation’s urban and rural populations remains a persistent challenge
Technology is increasing the resilience of health networks and improving assessments of disaster-affected natural resources

19. State Perspectives on Preparedness
States were asked to select three core capabilities that they felt were in greatest danger of decline. The chart shows the four most frequently selected core capabilities