http://www.fema.gov/library/us_russ.htm

United States-Russian Federation Cooperation on Natural and Technological Disaster Prevention and Response A Status Report Prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies, and the Elimination of the Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM of Russia)

September 1997

Background

Saving lives and protecting property from the effects of natural and technological disasters is a critical mission shared by FEMA and EMERCOM. Given the outstanding search and rescue expertise and extensive disaster management capabilities possessed by both Agencies, we are embarking on building a partnership in emergency preparedness and disaster management.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Natural and Technological Emergency Prevention and Response on July 16, 1996, heralded a new era of cooperation in building this partnership. In October 1996, FEMA and EMERCOM decided to focus partnership efforts on: region to region collaboration; exchange of training courses, exercise observers/participants and scientific and technical information; and coordination of assistance in complex humanitarian emergencies.

In April 1997, the Parties formalized a Work Plan for 1997 which includes 54 cooperative activities such as seminars, exercises, training courses, conferences and scientific exchanges. In preparation for 1998 and beyond, the Parties signed a Working Protocol in July 1997 expanding the regional cooperation to include EMERCOM's Siberian regions and FEMA's western regions. In addition, the Working Protocol increases exchanges for preparedness, training and exercises; addresses scientific and technological approaches for preparedness, mitigation and response; and expands the building of partnerships with business and industry. This Working Protocol establishes priorities for the 1998 and three year work plans.

Primary Accomplishments

Exchange activities have occurred throughout 1997 resulting in stronger regional and local emergency preparedness and disaster management in both countries. So far this year, the U.S. departments and agencies and EMERCOM of Russia have completed over half of the 54 of the Work Plan exchanges, projects and events. In addition to FEMA, the U.S. agencies include the U.S Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, the Department of Defense's National Guard, the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation's Coast Guard.

Some of the more significant exchanges include:

EMERCOM emergency managers participated in the Catastrophic 97 Earthquake Policy Seminar in Little Rock, Arkansas;

EMERCOM international humanitarian expert interned at the U.S. AID/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance;

Experts from FEMA, the National Guard and the City of Roanoke, Virginia participated in the EMERCOM regional search and rescue exercise in Pskov, Russia;

The FEMA Region X Director hosted the EMERCOM Far East Region Director and Deputy Director at a regional emergency management meeting in Alaska;

The Head of the Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences participated in the Iowa-Nebraska Nuclear Power Plant Exercise in Fort Dodge and Des Moines;

EMERCOM GIS experts visited FEMA, the U.S. Geological Survey and Baker Engineering on GIS systems applications in emergency preparedness and disaster management; and

The Regional Directors of EMERCOM's Far East and Transbaikal regions are participating in the FEMA sponsored and Department of Energy hosted "Emergency Management Technology Workshop" in Richland, Washington; touring Boeing Aircraft's Emergency Management Center; visiting the King County Emergency Operations Center and FEMA's Federal Regional Center and with a Mobile Emergency Response System (MERS) demonstration in Bothell, Washington. In the remainder of 1997, these significant Work Plan cooperative activities are planned:

Puget Sound, Washington Urban Search and Rescue Team to host EMERCOM rescuers for training exercises, demonstrations, and exchange of techniques;

EMERCOM Far East Regional Director and staff to host the FEMA Region X Director, U.S. Forest Service, National Guard, Coast Guard and Washington and Oregon officials for search and rescue demonstrations and develop a work plan of cooperative activities for 1998 in Khabarovsk;

EMERCOM to host the FEMA course entitled "Emergency Management USA" for EMERCOM officials at Noginsk; and

EMERCOM to host the National Guard course entitled "Military Support to Civil Authorities" for EMERCOM officials at Noginsk. Future Directions

In the Working Protocol signed on July 16, 1997, at the Joint Committee meeting in EMERCOM's Baikal region, the Parties agreed to develop Work Plans for 1998 and for three years beyond. These Works Plans will focus on the following broad objectives.

Expanding region to region cooperation.

In 1998 the Parties will continue cooperative activities between FEMA's Region X and EMERCOM's Far East Region which includes National Guard and Civil Defense of Russia joint activities. This prototype region to region interaction will be expanded to include EMERCOM's Siberian regions and FEMA's western regions.

These regional linkages will build on current exchanges facilitated by State and Oblast governments, the business communities and non-profit organizations, like the sister state and cities programs. In addition, the National Guard and Civil Defense of Russia will explore the possibility of at least one joint exercise activity and facilitate familiarization visits and exchange of personnel for specialized training courses.

Building regional and local emergency response capabilities.

Disasters occur in towns and villages across our vast nations. The ability of local responders to rescue and evacuate people and manage the resources to meet the initial response and recovery needs is critical to saving lives and property. We hope to provide more opportunities for local responders in both nations to learn from each other's response experiences and approaches to preparedness, training and exercises that support and enhance these local and regional capabilities. In addition, we intend to increase cooperation in the area of mental and psychological aspects of disaster preparedness and post disaster rehabilitation.

Facilitating government-industry partnerships for improving emergency preparedness and disaster management capabilities.

Governments can not do it all-we have neither the resources or in some instances, the expertise. We intend to increase the involvement of business and industry sectors and non-government organizations in these cooperative emergency preparedness and disaster management activities.

The focus is on building partnerships with Russian and American businesses in the utilization and application of existing products, technologies and services in emergency management. This includes: emergency telecommunications like 911, search and rescue techniques and technologies, a new multi-purpose aircraft (BE-200) for forest fire fighting and cargo/personnel carrier, population protection in radiological emergencies, and insurance programs for natural disasters. Industry has immense organizational and technological capabilities and disaster preparedness and response experiences that can be very helpful in improving emergency management and disaster response

Increasing focus on disaster mitigation strategies and measures.

Both Parties have concluded that the rising costs of disaster response and recovery and the increasing number and intensity of disasters requires a priority focus on mitigation measures. While we can not limit all consequences of disasters, we can improve building codes and land use measures to lessen the impacts of disasters on our citizens and economies. This shift in focus is driven by the need to contain the costs of disasters by building more disaster resistant communities.

Increasing utilization of information and other technologies in emergency management.

Information technology such as the Internet is a very valuable component of emergency preparedness and disaster management. The parties agree that we can do much more to utilize the Internet, GIS, and communications technologies in saving lives and property. The Parties intent to increase the exchange of scientific information and emergency management education programs used in American and Russian universities and training centers.

Complex humanitarian assistance

As a follow-up to the Working Protocol (February 28, 1997) between EMERCOM and U.S. AID/OFDA, they will continue to exchange information, participate in joint training activities and investigate the possibilities of joint international humanitarian response activities, such as assessment teams and response teams.

Summary

The partnership established between the U.S. and the Russian Federation by the 1996 MOU has already resulted in an increased understanding and appreciation of the emergency management challenges facing both countries and options and approaches for meeting natural and technological disaster contingencies. We are confident these benefits will continue in 1998 and beyond as we work together to attain the common goal of saving lives and protecting property from the impacts of disasters.

The above objectives will aid us in the selection of cooperative programs, projects, events and activities for the Work Plan for 1998 and three years beyond and help strengthen the emergency preparedness and disaster response capabilities of both nations. In addition, our cooperative work in disaster management helps our citizens better understand how our nations can work together effectively in attaining common humanitarian and economic development goals.

Updated: October 9, 1997

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 15, 1999

Answers

Trivia for Conspiracy Buffs: The director of FEMA Wilt was placed there by Klinton, prior he was the head of Arkansaw's Emergency Services.

Klinton then made Wilt a member of his cabinet; the first time a FEMA head was raised to cabinet status.

What level of emergency would warrant Wilt participating on cabinet meetings? Remember, FEMA is the keystone-cops agency that took 10 days to respond to FLA following hurricane Andrew; how long will it take them to respond to 56 simultaneous incidents? huh?

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 15, 1999.

"Governments can not do it all-we have neither the resources or in some instances, the expertise. We intend to increase the involvement of business and industry sectors and non-government organizations in these cooperative emergency preparedness and disaster management activities."

HMMMMM .... wonder what the translation from gov-speak into plain English is on this 'lovely' pair of sentences?

Would be comical if it weren't so sad!

-- hiding in plain (sight@edge. of no-where), December 15, 1999.

Cool FEMA virtual library:

http://www.fema.gov/library/

Did your city sign a contract with FEMA for Project Impact?

http://www.fema.gov/impact/cities/

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 15, 1999.

Sigh - unfortunately ... but then again, you know how much interest the federal gov has in keeping those of us on the Rez safe, huh?

-- hiding in plain (sight@edge. of no-where), December 15, 1999.

Jeeze Hokie; There are 50 states. There are 52 weeks in a year. Where in the heck did you pull 56 from, your ... ?

-- (...@.......), December 15, 1999.