Emergency Management

Missions include preventing terrorism and enhancing security; managing our borders; administering immigration laws; securing cyberspace; and ensuring disaster resilience. FEMA is part of DHS.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Both the Department of Emergency Management and the Public Safety Communications Center are committed to providing the citizens, visitors and tourists of New Hanover County with the fastest and most efficient response during emergency situations.​

North Carolina Emergency Management works with local and federal agencies to help individuals, families, business, non-profit groups and communities recover from disaster.

This bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide training at state and major urban area fusion centers for the purpose of administering community awareness briefings and related activities in furtherance of its efforts to counter violent extremism, identify and report suspicious activities, and increase awareness of and more quickly identify terrorism threats, including the travel or attempted travel of individuals from the United States to support a foreign terrorist organization abroad. (A "fusion center" serves as a focal point within the state and local environment for the receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information between the federal government and state, local, tribal, territorial and private sector partners.)

Critical infrastructure protection: observations on DHS efforts to implement and manage its chemical security program.

This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to incorporate the public statements of former violent extremists or their associates into its efforts to combat terrorist recruitment, including efforts to counter-message foreign terrorist organization communications and related community engagement and public education efforts. Additionally, DHS must coordinate with federal agencies and, as appropriate, engage nongovernmental and international partners in the identification and use of such public statements. It declares that nothing in this Act may be construed to require DHS to collect statements directly from former violent extremists or their associates.

This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a board to coordinate and integrate DHS's intelligence, activities, and policy related to its counterterrorism mission and functions. The board shall: (1) advise the Secretary of DHS on the issuance of terrorism alerts, and (2) meet on a regular basis to discuss intelligence and coordinate ongoing threat mitigation efforts and departmental activities. The board's charter shall direct it to focus on the current threat environment and the importance of aligning departmental counterterrorism activities under the Secretary's guidance. The Secretary shall appoint a Coordinator for Counterterrorism within DHS who shall serve as the chair of the board and report on its status and activities.

This hearing will focus on the findings of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense’s recently released report. Former Senator Lieberman and Former Governor Ridge, the Panel’s Co-Chairs, will update Committee Members on the Panel’s work and the state of U.S. bio security leadership and programs, including recommendations for improving our biodefense posture.

As is the case with any legal inquiry, the interpretation of this statute and its provisions as applied to a particular situation is subject to varying conclusions depending on the facts of the case and is also subject to judicial interpretation, with all of its inherent fallibility and unpredictability. The law is not a discipline which provides its guidance in sharply-defined areas of black and white. Most legal areas present multiple shades of gray, and this applies to EMTALA just as strongly as (and in some respects more strongly than) any other area. A lawyer often cannot tell a client "what the law is"; he can do no more than offer a prediction of what a court will find the law to be.

The National EMS Education Standards outline the minimal terminal objectives for entry-level EMS personnel to achieve within the parameters outlined in the National EMS Scope of Practice Model. Although educational programs must adhere to the Standards, its format will allow diverse implementation methods to meet local needs and evolving educational practices. The less prescriptive format of the Standards will also allow for ongoing revision of content consistent with scientific evidence and community standards of care.

This bill directs the Government Accountability Office to study and report to Congress within one year on: (1) whether past weaknesses in the operation and administration of the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) and its subsets (e.g., the No Fly list) have been addressed, and (2) the extent to which additional changes may address or mitigate existing vulnerabilities. The study and report must include, with respect to the TSDB, information on: (1) timely integration of information, (2) increased demands for information, (3) accessibility to relevant agencies, and (4) identification of known or suspected terrorists by users.

The mission of the Office of Emergency Medical Services is to foster emergency medical systems, trauma systems and credentialed EMS personnel to improve in providing responses to emergencies and disasters which will result in higher quality emergency medical care being delivered to the residents and visitors of North Carolina.

The purpose of this hearing is to receive an update on the state of rail and mass transit security, identify where progress has been made since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and assess remaining shortfalls.

The IAED is a non-profit standard-setting organization promoting safe and effective emergency dispatch services world-wide. Comprised of three allied Academies for medical, fire and police dispatching, the IAED supports first-responder related research, unified protocol application, legislation for emergency call center regulation, and strengthening the emergency dispatch community through education, certification, and accreditation.

This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require any state or high-risk urban area receiving a grant under the State Homeland Security Grant Program or the Urban Area Security Initiative to establish an urban area working group to assist in preparation and revision of the state, regional, or local homeland security plan or the threat and hazard identification and risk assessment.