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Quick Thread - NRF, NIMS, NitwitsThe Nat'l Response Framework (and its implementation program, NIMS) is a complex ecosystem managed by FEMA as part of the Dep't of Homeland Security.
Since blue checks keep asking "WHY ISN'T TRUMP DOING MORE?!", I'll break it down for you.
"NRF" = National Response Framework
"NIMS" = National Incident Management System
"Nitwit" = 90% of the people commenting on Trump's response to #COVID19
You're about to get a crash course in how the US responds to emergent crises in the homeland.
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"NIMS" = National Incident Management System
"Nitwit" = 90% of the people commenting on Trump's response to #COVID19
You're about to get a crash course in how the US responds to emergent crises in the homeland.
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The NRF is - surprise! - a general framework of guidelines and concepts for how the United States should leverage its maze of overlapping agencies, protocols, and legal jurisdictions.
NIMS is the implementation architecture.
NRF is the "what".
NIMS is the "how".
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NIMS is the implementation architecture.
NRF is the "what".
NIMS is the "how".
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Importantly, NRF/NIMS is designed to be "all-hazard" - general enough to cover most crises, scalable enough to expand from local to state, regional, or national levels.
Given that the US is still (allegedly) a union of sovereign states, the first level of authority is local.
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Given that the US is still (allegedly) a union of sovereign states, the first level of authority is local.
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NIMS has five levels of activation:
5 = single incident,managed by 1-2 people
4 = full resources of local jurisdiction
3 = state-level response, multi-agency
2 = regional response, multi-state
1 = national response, full federal involvement
This is called tiered response.
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5 = single incident,managed by 1-2 people
4 = full resources of local jurisdiction
3 = state-level response, multi-agency
2 = regional response, multi-state
1 = national response, full federal involvement
This is called tiered response.
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The idea is that because most crises begin local (i.e. terror attack or natural disaster), local resources are the tip of the response spear.
Where an event encompasses multiple locales (tornado, for example), municipal/county governments share resources to respond.
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Where an event encompasses multiple locales (tornado, for example), municipal/county governments share resources to respond.
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When a crisis exceeds local resources, a request is made by the Incident Commander to involve the state.
The governor, as chief executive, may declare a state of emergency.
This activates Level 3, often followed by 2 and 1 - but in that order.
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The governor, as chief executive, may declare a state of emergency.
This activates Level 3, often followed by 2 and 1 - but in that order.
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As each level of activation "switches on", new agencies arrive on-site and personnel re-sort by crisis management role/specialty (see chart below).
The idea is to maintain continuity of operations, account for all stakeholders, and create a unified approach.
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The idea is to maintain continuity of operations, account for all stakeholders, and create a unified approach.
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This flow of authorizations is what the nitwits miss in their rush to criticize @POTUS and @VP.
Unless we want a constitutional/human-rights crisis on our hands (like FDR's handling of Japanese-Americans in WWII), the feds cannot intervene at scale w/o a governor's request.
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Unless we want a constitutional/human-rights crisis on our hands (like FDR's handling of Japanese-Americans in WWII), the feds cannot intervene at scale w/o a governor's request.
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NRF/NIMS is characteristically useful for single-incident disasters or crises.
Especially with the overhauls enforced by W. Craig Fugate (who succeeded Michael "Heckuva Job" Brown as head of FEMA post-Katrina), NIMS has become a much better managed architecture.
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Especially with the overhauls enforced by W. Craig Fugate (who succeeded Michael "Heckuva Job" Brown as head of FEMA post-Katrina), NIMS has become a much better managed architecture.
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Compare/constract the incident management professionalism of FEMA and others during Katrina in '05 (horrific) versus Sandy (drastically improved) in '12.
On a smaller scale, consider the phenomenal emergency response efforts post-Joplin tornado in 2011.
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On a smaller scale, consider the phenomenal emergency response efforts post-Joplin tornado in 2011.
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The US does this kind of one-off crisis well, and is getting better each time, from the Nat'l Guard deploying under state orders to FEMA and the US military.
Further, the US is known for civilians self-drafting into effective disaster relief, like the famed "Cajun Navy".
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Further, the US is known for civilians self-drafting into effective disaster relief, like the famed "Cajun Navy".
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However, the US doesn't do sustained, long-dwelling crises as well.
That same maze of agencies and protocols that works effectively under shorter time constraints begins to fall apart at the seams under fluid, decentralized conditions.
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That same maze of agencies and protocols that works effectively under shorter time constraints begins to fall apart at the seams under fluid, decentralized conditions.
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Further, the more specialized the response required, the fewer bodies can be thrown at the problem.
It's one thing to have an average man or woman sort through debris, hand out water/supplies, or put on bandaids.
It's quite another to monitor and treat a viral outbreak.
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It's one thing to have an average man or woman sort through debris, hand out water/supplies, or put on bandaids.
It's quite another to monitor and treat a viral outbreak.
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NRF/NIMS, fundamentally, places an enormous burden of individual accountability on each person, from the Incident Commander all the way down to the water-bottle-wrangler.
But as the stakes of even a single error grows, the risk of inaction or uncertainty grows.
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But as the stakes of even a single error grows, the risk of inaction or uncertainty grows.
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In addition to the human capital chokepoint, specialized infrastructure is a major limiting factor.
The US's medical sector is simply not built to handle a multi-regional viral outbreak all at once. Nor is NIMS necessarily built to accommodate that level of coordination.
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The US's medical sector is simply not built to handle a multi-regional viral outbreak all at once. Nor is NIMS necessarily built to accommodate that level of coordination.
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We saw this during the 2009 outbreak of H1N1 (swine flu), which infected a reported 59 million Americans, killing more than 12,000.
It took then-president Obama six months to declare the swine flu pandemic to be a public health emergency.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-mar-19-la-sci-swine-flu20-2010mar20-story.html
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It took then-president Obama six months to declare the swine flu pandemic to be a public health emergency.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-mar-19-la-sci-swine-flu20-2010mar20-story.html
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It wasn't until August 2009 (five months after the initial outbreak in the US) that FEMA issued agency-level guidance because of the bottlenecked protocols mandated under the traditional NIMS protocols.
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2009/10/27/written-testimony-oha-fema-and-ice-house-homeland-security-subcommittee-emerging
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https://www.dhs.gov/news/2009/10/27/written-testimony-oha-fema-and-ice-house-homeland-security-subcommittee-emerging
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Contra the extremely delayed response in 2009, the current administration reacted swiftly, declaring a public health emergency for COVID-19 only two weeks after first reports emerged.
However, specific containment/treatment measures still start at the local/state levels.
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However, specific containment/treatment measures still start at the local/state levels.
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FEMA and the other agencies under the executive branch's purview CANNOT simply bigfoot the process due to social media pressure.
The protocols and processes exist for a reason, right, wrong, or indifferent.
Suspending or end-running them is not an option.
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The protocols and processes exist for a reason, right, wrong, or indifferent.
Suspending or end-running them is not an option.
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So this is the position that Trump finds himself in:
A nation panicked by a virus it doesn't understand, nor remembers the much-worse (to date) outbreak of swine flu from just eleven years ago...
...being egged on by incompetents that thrive when they bash Trump.
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A nation panicked by a virus it doesn't understand, nor remembers the much-worse (to date) outbreak of swine flu from just eleven years ago...
...being egged on by incompetents that thrive when they bash Trump.
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My biggest critiques are practical:
1. Lack of coherent testing protocols and resources, which can be coordinated at the federal level and implemented locally
2. Proper messaging to help explain and calm the situation, rather than appear to dismiss it
FIX THESE NOW!
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1. Lack of coherent testing protocols and resources, which can be coordinated at the federal level and implemented locally
2. Proper messaging to help explain and calm the situation, rather than appear to dismiss it
FIX THESE NOW!
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But this nonsense about how Trump should be doing more reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of our particular laws and emergency management protocols in the US.
Trump can either go full authoritarian, or follow the process and manage what he can.
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Trump can either go full authoritarian, or follow the process and manage what he can.
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But thanks to a media environment that confuses engagement with expertise, we don't hear of the things Trump is doing right or according to protocol.
I don't care.
Other than my two easily-remedied issues, Trump has proven himself competent.
And I never short America.
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I don't care.
Other than my two easily-remedied issues, Trump has proven himself competent.
And I never short America.
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