FCC Releases Report On Emergency Preparedness

The FCC has released a report on its ability to respond in natural disasters, terrorist attacks, public health emergencies, and other events. The report, “FCC’s Preparedness for a Major Public Emergency,” was put together by the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau in response to a 30-day review launched by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

“The FCC has an important role to play in ensuring that our nation’s communications infrastructure serves our public safety needs,” Genachowski said. “The Public Safety Bureau’s thorough review concluded that the agency is ready to respond to emergencies, but there is more work to do to maximize the agency’s readiness. The public safety challenges we face are ongoing, dynamic, and growing. Today’s report outlines concrete steps the FCC can and will take to better support public safety communications and protect our nation.”

The report, while concluding that the FCC is prepared to keep essential communications open in an emergency, found that the commission could improve its planning and response in the areas of education and training, outreach and collaborations, emergency operations and alerts, and network analysis.

Recommendations include a plan for improving the Continuity of Operations and Pandemic plans, and reviews and revisions as needed for emergency procedures in the FCC’s 24/7 operations center. The EAS system is also being reviewed with other agencies to account for “next-generation technologies.”

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Report

U.S. Army Brigade Deploys For Homeland Mission

For the first time ever, the US military is deploying an active duty regular Army combat unit for full-time use inside the United States to deal with national emergencies, including terrorism, natural disasters and civil unrest.

Beginning today, the First Brigade Combat Team of the Third Division will be placed under the command of US Army North, the Army’s component of the Pentagon’s Northern Command (NorthCom), which was created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with the stated mission of defending the US “homeland” and aiding federal, state and local authorities. Read more