Emergency Management

Summary

This section summarizes five national agencies and nonprofits: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Defense (DOD), American Red Cross, and National Guard, involvement in emergency management and their role in developing a coordinated federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic related to vaccine distribution and herd immunity. This section highlights the need to effectively use federal resources to manage ongoing safety and security concerns in the United States (U.S.) and its global leadership role in vaccine distribution and provides key findings and recommendations in response to this ongoing pandemic.

Each agency plays a role in distributing medical care, supplies, and managing national reactions through multiple pandemic waves. The goal of this sector is to save lives, and prime stakeholders to think proactively, reducing the time from outbreak to herd immunity.

Recommendations

• FEMA should assess COVID-19-related needs and fiscal capacity of states to respond to those needs, coordinating the building of alternate care sites and testing centers, distribution of medical supplies, and recruitment of medical personnel.
• The American Red Cross should mobilize medical support, including but not limited to supplies and staffing, and support convalescent blood collection and delivery.
• The CDC should collaborate with other international organizations, under the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO), to develop and equitably distribute a vaccine.
• The DOD should ensure national security through the preparation to handle multiple cycles of COVID-19 domestically and internationally and reduce the impact of COVID-19 on concurrent national security missions.
• The National Guard should coordinate with state and local law enforcement to support security missions, supplement production and distribution of a vaccine, and support education to reduce the number of incidence cases and spreading of COVID-19.

Authors