A National Preparedness System, a description of which is due to the White House late next month, should take pains to a recognize interdependencies among the various components of the system, says an Oct. 13 paper from the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.

The NPS description is a requirement under Presidential Policy Directive 8, which President Barack Obama signed on March 30. The system is meant to establish "an integrated set of guidance, programs, and processes" to enable national preparedness against threats, the directive states. It defines preparedness as capabilities necessary "to prevent, protect against, mitigate the effects of, respond to and recover from" those threats.

However, Homeland Security Department components are wont to acting in a manner that's less than holistic and integrated, the paper says.

"DHS components tend to operate under the notion that individual agencies' 'ownership' of a homeland security mission or activity is exclusive, and they therefore do not see the functions they perform as part of an overall large system for national preparedness and resilience," the paper adds.

But addressing one aspect of preparedness in isolation can result in solutions that fail to address an interdependency, potentially leading to lost lives.

As an example of an preparedness interrelationship, the paper cites the connection between infrastructure resilience and societal resilience.

"The expectations of the public regarding the availability and functioning of lifeline infrastructure during or immediately following an event will vary significantly based upon the levels of preparedness and resilience in communities," the paper says.

In an era of tightening budgets, the necessity of a systematic approach is all the more urgent, the paper says, since sub-optimization of resources becomes even more problematic, and the National Preparedness System offers a rare window to thusly re-engineer homeland security.

For more:
- download the paper, "Operationalizing Resilience: A Systems-based Approach Emphasizing Risk Management is Required{" (.pdf)

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