Emergency response plans are often based on the assumption of working supply chains. Emergency managers can play a critical role in enhancing supply chain resilience by fostering greater awareness and collaboration among key supply chain players and promoting actions to enhance disaster resilience.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) draft Supply Chain Resilience Guide (.pdf) presents an approach to assist emergency managers with analyzing local supply chain resilience. The content and approaches are derived from multiple deliveries of FEMA National Integration Center (NIC) Supply Chain Technical Assistance and incorporates lessons learned from Technical Assistance efforts, real world events, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Regional Resiliency Assessment Program.
The government is seeking public feedback on the document with respect to:
- Areas that may be confusing and need revision
- Issues or considerations that have not been included
- Clear examples of supply chain resilience efforts, particularly those that included collaboration between emergency management and the private sector
- Additional training opportunities and resources for inclusion in the document
Integrating the needs of local supply chains into mitigation, response, recovery, and resilience planning and actions is key to improve supply chain resilience and ensure the availability of key goods and services.
Comments, input, or recommendations are due by 17 January 2019.