First Responders

Term used to describe emergency response professionals who are first to arrive at the scene of a crisis situation. First responders include members of security, health, transportation, communication, and law enforcement agencies. Specifically, first responders include the police, fire department, hazmat (hazardous materials) teams, SWAT teams, public health officials, and emergency medical services. The role of the first responder is to assess a crisis—whether it is a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other large-scale emergency—and respond with the appropriate expertise to stabilize the situation.

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the importance of first responders to homeland and national security grew significantly. The heroic efforts of firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical technicians at the time of the attacks were widely documented, but they also underscored the importance of these first responders to the nation's security.

New York firefighters helping with rescue efforts after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Firefighters are among the groups known as first responders, that is, emergency personnel who are the first to respond to a crisis. Other first responders include police, emergency medical services, bomb squads, and SWAT teams. Since the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the nation's first responders have been on the front lines of protecting the population.

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[Page 265]In the United States, there are more than 11 million state and local first responders. Although they still perform their traditional roles as police, firefighters, and emergency medics, the mission of the first responders has evolved since September 11. Their new mission requires additional training to respond to chemical and biological attacks. Many of the first-responder organizations in the United States are coordinated under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the cabinet-level department whose mission is to provide domestic defense to the United States.