Stabilizing Community Lifelines Is the Primary Effort During Incident Response
In the event of a disaster, whether natural or man-made, the primary effort during incident response is to stabilize community lifelines. Community lifelines are essential services that enable the continuous operation of critical government and business functions and are essential to human health and safety or economic security.
The seven community lifelines are:
- Communications: This includes telephone, internet, and other forms of communication.
- Energy: This includes electricity, natural gas, and other forms of energy.
- Food and water: This includes access to safe food and water.
- Healthcare: This includes access to medical care and other healthcare services.
- Transportation: This includes access to roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure.
- Public safety: This includes law enforcement, fire protection, and other public safety services.
Stabilizing community lifelines is essential to ensuring the safety and well-being of the community. When community lifelines are disrupted, it can lead to a variety of problems, including:
- Loss of life: If people cannot access food, water, or healthcare, they may die.
- Disruption of critical services: Government and businesses may be unable to operate, which can lead to economic disruption.
- Public safety concerns: Crime and civil unrest may increase.
The National Response Framework (NRF) is a guide for how the United States government and its partners respond to disasters. The NRF identifies seven core capabilities that are essential to stabilizing community lifelines. These capabilities are:
- Search and rescue: This includes finding and rescuing people who are trapped or injured.
- Hazardous materials: This includes responding to and cleaning up hazardous materials.
- Emergency medical services: This includes providing medical care to people who are injured or ill.
- Temporary shelter: This includes providing temporary housing for people who have been displaced from their homes.
- Food and water: This includes providing food and water to people who need it.
- Public health and medical services: This includes providing healthcare to people who need it.
The NRF also identifies a number of supporting capabilities that can be used to stabilize community lifelines. These capabilities include:
- Logistics: This includes transporting people, supplies, and equipment.
- Coordination: This includes coordinating the efforts of different organizations and agencies.
- Information and intelligence: This includes gathering and sharing information about the disaster.
Stabilizing community lifelines is a complex and challenging task. It requires the coordinated efforts of a variety of organizations and agencies. By working together, these organizations can help to ensure the safety and well-being of the community in the event of a disaster.
Questions
- What are the seven community lifelines?
- Why is stabilizing community lifelines the primary effort during incident response?
- What are the seven core capabilities that are essential to stabilizing community lifelines?
- What are some of the supporting capabilities that can be used to stabilize community lifelines?
Discussion
The seven community lifelines are essential to the functioning of any community. When these lifelines are disrupted, it can have a devastating impact on the community. Stabilizing community lifelines is therefore the primary effort during incident response.
The seven core capabilities identified by the NRF are essential to stabilizing community lifelines. These capabilities provide the foundation for the response effort. The supporting capabilities can be used to supplement the core capabilities and to address specific needs.
By working together, organizations and agencies can help to ensure that community lifelines are stabilized in the event of a disaster. This will help to protect the safety and well-being of the community.
Here are some additional thoughts on stabilizing community lifelines:
- It is important to have a plan in place for stabilizing community lifelines before a disaster occurs. This plan should identify the specific needs of the community and the resources that are available to meet those needs.
- It is also important to have a system in place for communicating with the community about the status of community lifelines. This will help to keep people informed and to reduce anxiety.
- Finally, it is important to be flexible and adaptable in the event of a disaster. The situation may change quickly, so it is important to be able to adjust the response plan as needed.
