Project Responder 4 - 2014 National Technology Plan for Emergency Response to Catastrophic Incidents

Project Responder 4 (PR4) is the fourth in a series of studies begun in 2003 to focus on identifying capability needs, shortfalls and priorities for catastrophic incident response. The approach for the PR4 study allowed a longitudinal look at 11 years of enduring gaps and needs, and distinguishing them from emerging needs and technology. The results of this study are captured in this Project Responder 4: 2014 National Technology Plan for Emergency Response to Catastrophic Incidents.

PR4 identifies a set of enduring and emerging capability needs, frames them into technology objectives and assesses the state of science and technology to meet those needs. Findings are based on discussions with federal, state and local first responders as well as technical subject matter experts (SMEs). These interactions ensure that potential solutions reflect operational considerations and are based on an actionable and achievable technology path.