We decided to conduct a simulation exercise in the Department of Homeland Security
We decided to conduct a simulation exercise in the Department of Homeland Security to establish the fact due to public health difficulties affecting Franklin County. Simulation is the process of imitating or learning how to do something by becoming more involved in the process (Edmonson, 2010). We decided to conduct our research at DHS, focusing on their key missions, as a method of gathering useful information to mitigate the problems (Building a Resilient Nation). The DHS is critical in protecting the country from potential threats. The mission requires the dedication of more than 230,000 personnel to carry out the emergency response across the borders of the nation (Chandra, et. al., 2011). The core objective is to keep a safe America. The paper will explore a simulation in mission area in “Ensuring resilience to disasters.”
Discussion of DHS Office of Health Affairs
The mission ensuring resilience to disaster is one of the core objectives of the Department of Homeland Security together with its partners like federal government private and public sectors in conjunction with the communities in the entire country (Hémond & Benoit, 2012). The organizations work together since 9/11 to create a new homeland security system to reduce the effects and protect against the ever-evolving risks and uncertainties and to improve the capability of handling the attacks and disasters of all kinds (Edmonson, 2010). Collectively, the trials have provided the opportunity to defend the American society against terrorism, human trafficking, earthquakes, hurricanes while protecting the fundamental human rights of the citizens.
While acknowledging the existence of threats the American nation is more resilient than it was on 9/11. The country is better equipped to respond to the continued external challenges. The United States has made significant milestones in protecting its citizens from the attack on 11th of September (Larkin, et. al., 2015). Nevertheless, the strategies employed by terrorists are dynamic, and therefore authorities must be agile. Since 9/11, the federal government responded quickly by coming up with a strategy to prevent attacks conceived abroad from happening, while still curbing domestic attacks and calamities (Larkin, et. al., 2015). A key element of this strategy is the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security in March 2003, consolidating 23 agencies and offices into one unit (Chandra, et. al., 2011). Based on the principle of protecting the American citizens from terrorism and other threats, DHS in collaboration with other players in the public and private sectors and communities have strengthened the defense of the entire nation.
Most characteristics of this enterprise are by the recommendation formed in the 9/11 commission. The Commission investigated the circumstances that surrounded the 9/11 incident and advised on ways of avoiding such occurrences. The Federal government formally realized the significance of national resilience and included a practical national security strategy in the year 2010 (Hémond & Benoit, 2012). The recognition enhanced the capacity to cope up with the changing situations and actually restore the disruptions. Furthermore, the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review that formed the foundation for the Homeland Security Department goals and objectives in the sectors of vital infrastructure, worldwide movement supplies chain operations among others. Ideally, among the five QHSR missions is the devotion to sustainability and resilience.
How Ensuring Resilience in Homeland Security Department
The simulation fits the mission such that the Homeland Security Department has developed robust ways of handling each kind disaster across the nation to ensure sustainability and protected the citizens from catastrophes (Hémond & Benoit, 2012). Likewise, in the issues facing Franklin County, the information gathered from the resilience strategies would be useful in handling the pandemics. For instance, the operationalization of resilience programs needs the participation of all the stakeholders. The cooperation between the public, private and non-governmental agencies assist in the coordination of resources, sharing of information.
DHS through the Office of Health Affairs (OHA) carries all the health related issues. OHA awareness of the possible effect of biological attacks, infectious diseases threats, pandemics and chemical releases help them organize the country to respond and recover (https://www.dhs.gov/office-health-affairs, n.d). The personnel back up the operation by ensuring preparedness of medical needs and public health. OHA provide pieces of advice to the DHS management on health security matters (Chandra, et. al., 2011). It also guides the key health stakeholders in the leadership position to respond and recover from the impacts of national security threats. Also, OHA assists all levels of government in the decision-making process by providing information on biological threats and undertaking biosurveillance programs that determine the severity of the impacts and the sustainable procedures.
Conclusion
In summary, the mission simulation on how to sustain the health issues facing the Franklin County ended up with the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security’s Ensuring Resilience Nation mission in the United States (Hémond & Benoit, 2012). Since 9/11 event, DHS has made significant strides in ensuring that American residents get the shield from national disasters. Among the focus areas was Office of Health Affairs that carries out the precautionary experiments on the possible biological, chemical threats that may influence the normal existence (https://www.dhs.gov/office-health-affairs n.d). In this context, the simulation was successful as it focused on getting information on how the government can work to mitigate the health crises in Franklin County.
References
Chandra, A., Acosta, J., Howard, S., Uscher-Pines, L., Williams, M., Yeung, D., … & Meredith, L. S. (2011). Building community resilience to disasters: A way forward to enhance national health security. Rand health quarterly, 1(1).
Department of Homeland Security: https://www.dhs.gov/office-health-affairs
Edmonson, R. G. (2010, May 31). Withstand, respond, rebuild. Journal of Commerce Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/365969818?accountid=45049
Hémond, Y., & Benoît, R. (2012). Preparedness: The state of the art and future prospects. Disaster Prevention and Management, 21(4), 404-417. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09653561211256125
Larkin, S., Fox-Lent, C., Eisenberg, D. A., Trump, B. D., Wallace, S., Chadderton, C., & Linkov, I. (2015). Benchmarking agency and organizational practices in resilience decision making. Environment Systems and Decisions, 35(2), 185-195.
