Emergency Management Response Analysis Paper

Wk. 3 - Emergency Management Response Analysis Paper, Part B
Austin LaBray
CJA/375: Interagency Communication
Instructor Mario Honore
Wk. 3 - Emergency Management Response Analysis Paper, Part B
In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, secondary responders largely comprised non-law enforcement individuals, groups, and agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Coast Guard, engineers, and others played a critical role in responding to the incident. The incident command system (ICS) organizes emergency response assets into five functional areas with different teams working under the command, operations, planning, logistics, and administration or finance sections (Hambridge et al., 2017). Following the September 11 terrorist attack, the United States, through the Homeland Security Act of 2002, directed the formation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as a standard mechanism for managing operations in emergency responses at all levels regardless of the type, complexity, and size of an incident (Hambridge et al., 2017). ICS is part of NIMS and directs operations for managing incidents regardless of organizations, agencies, and jurisdictions involved. This paper details the roles of secondary responders within the structured incident command system outlines the applicable crisis response objectives, and discusses decision-making strategies and challenges faced by leaders in working through the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill incident in the aftermath of the emergency.
R.J. Papp, Jr. ADM served as a commandant during the event and was responsible for chartering the Deepwater Horizon Incident Specific Preparedness Review (ISPR) as a fact-finding body that reviewed the response and recovery operations. ISPR also evaluated planning assumptions and identified the strengths and weaknesses of the entire system at the time of the incident. The ISPR team comprised of federal and state agencies and advisors from non-governmental organizations and industry to ensure a thorough and independent review that helped the Coast Guard in its mission to respond to the events. In the aftermath of the incident, the ISPR, alongside the President's National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling reports, helped the Coast Guard evaluate and identify opportunities for effective and positive preparedness improvements. The Captains of the Port al...