US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...
in 2004, initially provided for the creation of 12 teams corresponding to the 10 region designations of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
, and two teams for regions three and nine, on the US east and west coasts respectively. This was later expanded in 2006 for a total of 17 teams nationwide.
A CERFP consists of four to five elements:
* Command and control, which directs the overall mission and reports to the
incident commander
The incident commander is the person responsible for all aspects of an emergency response; including quickly developing incident objectives, managing all incident operations, application of resources as well as responsibility for all persons involv ...
* Search and extraction, which conducts rescue operations and the stabilization of damaged structures
* Decontamination, which conducts
mass casualty
A mass casualty incident (often shortened to MCI) describes an incident in which emergency medical services resources, such as personnel and equipment, are overwhelmed by the number and severity of casualties. For example, an incident where a ...
decontamination
* Medical, which provides triage and medical support for victims and military personnel
* Fatalities search and recovery, which recovers
human remains Human remains may refer to:
A corpse or skeleton
* A deceased human body
** A cadaver
** A Human skeleton, skeleton
Music
* Human Remains (band), an American grindcore band
* Human Remains (Hell album), ''Human Remains'' (Hell album), 2011
* Huma ...
CERFPs have an expected response time of between six and 12 hours. They may consist of 200 or more personnel, who are trained to civilian standards set forth by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...
and the
National Fire Protection Association
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. As of 2018, the NFPA claims to have 50,000 mem ...
.
See also
*
Emergency management
Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...
*
Disaster response
Disaster response is the second phase of the disaster management cycle. It consists of a number of elements, for example; warning/evacuation, search and rescue, providing immediate assistance, assessing damage, continuing assistance and the imme ...