Response at the State and Local Level

Chapter 11 covers the convergence of agencies from all levels of government to the scene of a biological event. In fact, many agencies from the federal level will respond to a chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear, and explosive incident, providing necessary resources. Planners within local jurisdictions need to maintain a list of the agencies, the contact numbers, and the resources available from each. State and local governments must be fully compliant with the National Incident Management System, which includes the adaptation of the Incident Command System. Unified or area command is an essential element in domestic incident management in which multiple jurisdictions and agencies are involved. It provides guidelines to enable agencies with different legal, geographic, and functional responsibilities to effectively coordinate, plan, and interact. Unified or area command removes much of the inefficiency and duplication of effort that can occur when agencies from different functional and geographic jurisdictions or agencies at different levels of government operate without a common system or organizational framework.