National security and emergency management are two very different fields, and they appear to have very different roles in the United States. Because of these differences, it may seem that the two fields would have nothing in common, but there are specific ways in which they are connected.
1. Both emphasize taking care of people in difficult situations.
The purpose of national security is to protect the infrastructure of the United States in order to help protect the people who live in the nation. Protecting the infrastructure of the United States helps ensure that, when a disaster or other emergency occurs, the infrastructure is strong enough that the emergency or disaster can be overcome so that it does not dramatically impact the people or the overall operations of the United States.
Along similar lines, emergency management is about re-establishing an infrastructure to help protect the people impacted by the emergency. By re-establishing the infrastructure, people are able to recover from the emergency or disaster more quickly and get back to a normal daily life.
2. Both require complex coordination and cooperation.
National security is a complex matter, and it requires coordination and cooperation with many different agencies to maintain national security and address concerns that may arise about national security. From military and local law enforcement to telecommunications and water and energy, all agencies that contribute to the infrastructure of the United States must coordinate and work together to establish a strong infrastructure.
Along the same lines, emergency management requires the same type of coordination and cooperation to re-establish infrastructure with the same agencies needed to maintain the infrastructure and protect national security. However, in emergency management, this coordination and cooperation is even more integral because these infrastructures may have been interrupted in an emergency and must be set up again.
3. Effective emergency management helps protect national security.
Another way these two fields are connected is because effective emergency management helps protect national security. When an emergency occurs, an area (or the United States itself) is more vulnerable. Strong emergency management re-establishes infrastructures quickly to minimize the vulnerability in those situations.
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4. National security helps protect emergency management.
Conversely, national security helps protect emergency management. When national security measures are strong, the nation’s infrastructures are strong, which can help the United States recover more quickly in emergencies and disasters. In fact, strong infrastructures due to national security management may keep some infrastructures intact in an emergency.
5. Both national security and emergency management are essential to safety in the United States.
Though national security and emergency management are parallel fields, they are both separate and important parts of ensuring the safety of Americans and the United States itself. Without strong emergency management, communities are unable to recover after an emergency or disaster. Without national security, the nation is vulnerable to attack. Since each impacts the other, they are both important to protect the people and infrastructures of the United States.
National security and emergency management are both important to the United States. Because of the ways they are connected, these two components of the nation are both used together and separately to protect Americans and ensure the maintenance of infrastructures in the United States for life, liberty, and freedom.