DomesticPreparedness met with Kevin Yeskey, M.D., Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Preparedness and Emergency Operations, HHS. A high-level HHS preparedness official gives his views on improvements to the department’s preparedness and emergency operations programs; the transfer of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) from DHS to HHS; NIMS compliance efforts; and state drug and vaccine distribution programs.
DomesticPreparedness met with Rear Admiral W. Craig Vanderwagen, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and Chief Preparedness Officer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and Chief Preparedness Officer, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt's principal advisor on bioterrorism and other public health emergencies, addresses the guiding principle “one team, one fight.” In his remarks, he discusses the team-orientation approach used by the Public Health Service (PHS), the transfer of the National Disaster Management System (NDMS) to HHS, and the emphasis on building local capacity buttressed by regional support.
DomesticPreparedness met with Vayl Oxford, Director, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), Department of Homeland Security to discuss his views on the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs, the DNDO partnerships with state and local agencies, and a broad spectrum of forward-looking R&D programs and initiatives.
DomPrep’s John F. Morton met with Thomas J. Lockwood, Director, Office of National Capital Region (NCR) Coordination, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to discuss Lockwood's views on the need to work in close coordination with the Washington, D.C., Council of Governments, the prioritization of all-hazards security plans, integrated training requirements, & the special roles played by regional CIOs & CTOs.
DomPrep’s John F. Morton met with Admiral Thad W. Allen, USCG, Commandant, U. S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Commandant, probably best known for his role as the federal coordinator for the 2005 Katrina and Rita recovery operations, discusses the Coast Guard’s interagency and intergovernmental linkages that serve and improve national preparedness.
DomPrep's John Morton met with Jack Beall, Director, National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). The director of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) briefs the state-of-play in NDMS components. Citing the response to Hurricane Katrina as the largest deployment ever of NDMS assets, he draws parallels between NDMS and National Guard activations.
DomPrep's John Morton met with Rear Admiral Joseph Nimmich, USCG, Director, Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) Strategy. Rear Admiral Nimmich spells out details of the DHS October 2005 plan to implement a Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) architecture that goes beyond pure intelligence sharing to include broad information sharing. How the MDA architecture will network national as well as interagency, state, local, and private-sector assets to create a common information environment for anomaly detection and command and control (C2).
DomPrep's John Morton met with R. James Woolsey, Vice President, Global Resilience, Booz Allen Hamilton. The former Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) provides his insights into why first responders must be constantly aware of the limitations of intelligence and information-sharing - and, consequently, on the need to emphasize resilience, particularly in the area of command and control, over pure prevention.
DomPrep.com’s John F. Morton and Martin Masiuk met with Retired Navy Rear Adm. Marsha J. Evans in June 2005 at the American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Admiral Evans detailed the Red Cross organizational linkages with DHS and State/Local EOCs for response planning. She also outlined a new initiative for community-based preparedness training and the mechanisms through which the American Red Cross (ARC) is developing the mass-care support function in local response planning.
On February 3, 2005, the day after President Bush's State of the Union Address, DomPrep's John Morton, James D. Hessman, and Martin Masiuk visited with retired Coast Guard Admiral James M. Loy, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), at his headquarters in Washington. The senior DHS decision-maker, a former Coast Guard commandant, discusses the newly released National Response Plan, the National Cargo Security Strategy, and National Incident Management System, and a broad spectrum of other topics.
