FCC Releases Emergency Preparedness Report

Be Prepared!

FCC Chairman JULIUS GENACHOWSKI has released the Commission’s report on its ability to respond to natural disasters, terrorist attacks, public health emergencies and other large-scale events.

"The FCC has an important role to play in ensuring that our nation’s communications infrastructure serves our public safety needs," said GENACHOWSKI. "The Public Safety Bureau’s thorough review concluded that the agency is ready to respond to emergencies, but there is more work to do to maximize the agency’s readiness. The public safety challenges we face are ongoing, dynamic, and growing. Today’s report outlines concrete steps the FCC can and will take to better support public safety communications and protect our nation."

The report, entitled "FCC’s Preparedness for a Major Public Emergency," and prepared by the Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, was released as part of a joint press conference with officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Department of Health and Human Services.

In the report, the agency concludes that it is prepared to respond to communications emergencies and perform its mission. The report also identifies a number of areas in which the FCC can improve its emergency planning and response including education and training, outreach and collaboration, emergency operations and alerts, and network analysis. 

Among areas addressed in the report are maintenance of partnerships with federal, state, tribal and local governments and the public safety community to ensure effective coordination when disaster strikes; the need to update emergency communications and operations for the agency so that it can continue to operate and communicate during an emergency; safety and security challenges, including cyber security; and education and training for FCC staffers to be ready for emergencies.

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