The Responder Knowledge Base (RKB) was launched by TRC on October 31, 2003, and is sponsored by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) and the DHS Preparedness Directorate?s Office of Grants and Training. The RKB was designed to provide emergency responders with trusted, integrated, on-line access to information about products, standards, grants, training, publications, and other equipment-related information. This project has also put TRC in a unique position to observe the evolution of key grant programs and responder equipment requirements. 2006 is likely to be a very interesting year for the emergency response community. We anticipate several policy shifts in the Department of Homeland Security as well as some major standards organizations that potentially will have far-reaching effects.
Perhaps the most significant trend in 2006 is DHS? slow but steady movement away from the familiar Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive (CBRNE) terrorism focus toward a more all-hazards approach. Since the devastating hurricanes of 2005, many in DHS have begun to see the value in exploiting the commonalities between terrorism response plans and those used for natural disasters. The first visible sign of this shift, which preceded the hurricanes, came with the release of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 (HSPD-8). This directive establishes policies to strengthen the preparedness of the US to prevent and respond to threatened or actual domestic terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies by requiring a national domestic all-hazards preparedness goal. One of the first HSPD-8 driven products was a list of planning scenarios against which to formulate target capabilities. The Universal Task List (UTL) was developed to enumerate the tasks required to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from major events. At a higher level, a set of Target Capabilities was defined in terms of the universal tasks.
The shift to risk-based grant distribution is a complementary major policy shift, signaling that the new language of homeland security will be couched in terms of risks and capabilities. The first evidence of this shift is occurring while this article is being written ? the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program has announced that while eligibility is being determined in much the same way as FY2005 (i.e., designated large urban areas), the actual distribution of funds will be based upon demonstrated risk (as justified in the grant applications). Expect further efforts to align grant dollars with demonstrated risks and capability shortfalls rather than by jurisdiction or static formulae.
The RKB mission has expanded to include the dissemination of Target Capability data and its relationship to grant-funded equipment. We have now linked the Target Capabilities to the Office for Grants & Training?s Authorized Equipment List (AEL), which is a generic equipment list used by nine of the major grant programs funded through DHS. It lists allowable purchasable equipment categories. Now, emergency responders can find out which types of equipment support specific target capabilities.
In addition to traditional grant programs, Congress has established a program to assist small jurisdictions that have so far been ?below the radar? in obtaining grant funds. Targeted mainly toward small jurisdiction law enforcement, the DHS Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program (CEDAP) allows applicants to choose from a predefined set of products and receive the equipment (and associated training) directly rather than simply getting the money. CEDAP Phase 1, which accepted applications in Spring 2005, provided First Responders with $8 million in equipment such as thermal imaging equipment, night vision devices, and personal protective equipment. CEDAP Phase 2, which began on November 7, 2005 and is scheduled to last until January 13, 2006, will give away another $24 million in equipment to the winning applicants. The program is likely to continue in 2006 with over $30 million in awards. The RKB has been a critical part of the CEDAP program, hosting the entire on-line application process.
The effort within the responder community to incorporate CBRN protection into everyday response equipment is another important trend for emergency responders. This will increase terrorism protection for responders without requiring separate sets of protective equipment for ?normal? use versus terrorism response. The National Fire Protection Association is currently revising both its NFPA 1994 ?Standard on Protective Ensembles for Chemical Biological Terrorism Incidents? and NFPA 1971 ?Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting.? NFPA 1994 will expand to include a particulate protective ?Class 4? ensemble, and NFPA 1971 will include a ?CBRN option? that will dramatically improve the protections provided by firefighter turnout gear. This will encourage manufacturers to create equipment suitable for both typical emergency response operations as well as CBRN threat environments. Other efforts, such as the development of a CBRN standard for Powered Air Purifying Respirators by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) also indicate a continued move toward better standards and increased protection for responders.
With more than 3,500 listed products, the RKB is just scratching the surface of the equipment information needed to serve the emergency response community. Users will notice much more depth in some product categories than others. New partnerships are being formed to link the RKB to a complete library of standards, the Office for Grants & Training?s new training catalog, and other data sources. Meanwhile, the staff continues to add new items of equipment and associated products every day. RKB will be a cornerstone of continued information integration for responders in 2006.
