Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

Since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, state and local governments and response organizations have focused attention on preparing for and responding to acts of domestic terrorism. Of particular concern has been improving state and local response capabilities for dealing with terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD), i.e., biological, radiological, chemical, or nuclear weapons. Much activity has focused on what the federal government itself can do to better support the efforts of state and local organizations in the war on terrorism. The Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction (also known as the Gilmore Commission) was established by Congress on October 17, 1998, to evaluate the progress of federal preparedness programs for local emergency response and to recommended strategies for effective coordination of preparedness and response efforts between federal, state, and local government and response organizations. As part of its support for this effort, just prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, RAND conducted the first wave of a nationwide survey to gather in-depth data about state and local response organizations' assessments of federal preparedness programs for combating terrorism. Follow-on surveys were conducted in 2002 and 2003. The surveys gathered in-depth data on the planning and preparedness activities of the key professional communities involved in preparedness and emergency response: law enforcement, fire services, offices of emergency management, emergency medical services, hospitals, and public health agencies. This national survey provides the first comprehensive picture of efforts in the two years following the 9/11 attacks to improve the nation's preparedness for terrorism. This reports presents a summary of results from the third wave of the survey, conducted in 2003.