The National Preparedness Goal defines what it means for the whole community to be prepared for all types of disasters and emergencies. The goal itself is succinct:
“A secure and resilient nation with the capabilities required across the whole community to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk.”
These risks include events such as natural disasters, disease pandemics, chemical spills and other man-made hazards, terrorist attacks and cyber attacks.
Download the National Preparedness Goal
Capabilities to Reach the Goal
The National Preparedness Goal describes five mission areas — prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery — and 32 activities, called core capabilities, that address the greatest risks to the nation.
Each of these core capabilities is tied to a capability target. These targets recognize that everyone needs the flexibility to determine how they apply their resources, based on the threats that are most relevant to them and their communities.
A Midwestern city, for example, may determine it is at high risk for a catastrophic tornado. As a result, the city could set a target to have a certain number of shelters in place. The same applies across all potential risks, understanding that each risk is different; therefore, each target is different.
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