Coast Guard Publication 3-28 Incident Management and Crisis Response June 2014 Incident management and crisis response are critical functions that span all Coast Guard missions. Whether a search and rescue case, oil spill, security event, marine transportation disruption, or any other maritime disturbance, the Coast Guard must be ready to respond with swift, well coordinated actions to ensure the safety, security, and stewardship of the Nation's waters. Locally based, nationally deployed, and globally connected, the Coast Guard is uniquely positioned to respond to, and lead, incidents within the maritime domain. Response success is not only defined by our on-scene actions during the incident. Preparedness for crisis response, including development of important interagency and private sector stakeholder relationships and improving mission proficiency, requires deliberate actions before, during and after the event. Many critical crisis response activities grow rapidly and exponentially during a major event, including engagement with public officials and media; deploying a robust liaison network; management of immense information demands; need for increased logistics management capabilities; and understanding and effectively employing surge forces including deployable specialized forces, Reserves and the Auxiliary. Since 1790, the Coast Guard has safeguarded our Nation's maritime interests and natural resources on our rivers, in our ports, in the littoral regions and on the high seas. However, today's maritime environment has evolved dramatically since America's founding. There is an ever increasing number of stakeholders in the maritime domain. In both its daily operations, and especially during incident management activities, the Coast Guard must balance the sometimes competing interests of stakeholders such as commerce, recreation, fisheries, energy, and the environment. Today's environment includes a 24-hour news cycle, increased demands from decision makers, and higher expectations from the public to assist potential victims and make response decisions that are in America's best interest. Traditional response activities, focused on achieving successful resolution of the incident, with minimal adverse consequences and rapid restoration of public services, may not sufficiently address the strategic considerations of crisis response. National public, media, and political interest demand coequal consideration of information flow, both to local media and to Coast Guard leaders who, though not directly involved in the response, span the border between the incident and the larger "event: ' To provide for the needs of the Nation, the Coast Guard must plan and conduct its activities with an understanding of our mission, our external environment, how we operate and our statutory authorities, capabilities, competencies and partnerships. The Coast Guard must be a forward leaning, engaged organization ready with appropriate resources, confident in its contingency plans, and able to clearly communicate its response actions and capabilities to the public. Flexibility and proficiency, gained through preparedness activities, readies the Coast Guard for unexpected challenges.