Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, including authority vested in me by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1958, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Scope. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) shall prepare national emergency plans and develop preparedness programs covering health services, civilian health manpower, health resources, welfare services, and educational programs as defined below. These plans and programs shall be designed to develop a state of readiness in these areas with respect to all conditions of national emergency including attack upon the United States. SEC. 2. Definitions. As used in this order: (a) "Emergency health services" means medical and dental care for the civilian population in all of their specialties and adjunct therapeutic fields, and the planning, provision and operation of first aid stations, hospitals, and clinics; preventive health services, including detection, identification and control of communicable diseases, their vectors, and other public health hazards, inspection and control of purity and safety of food, drugs and biologicals; food and milk sanitation; public water supplies; sewage and other waste disposal; registration and disposal of the dead; prevention and alleviation of water pollution; vital statistics services; preventive and curative care related to human exposure to radiological, chemical, and biological warfare agents; and rehabilitation and. related services for disabled survivors. It shall be understood that health services, for the purposes of this order, do not encompass the following areas for which the Department of Agriculture has responsibility: plant and animal diseases and pest prevention, control and eradication, protection of meat and meat products, and poultry and poultry products in establishments under continuous inspection service by the Department of Agriculture, veterinary biologicals, agricultural commodities and products owned by the Commodity Credit Corporation or the Secretary of Agriculture, livestock, agricultural commodities owned or harvestable on farms and ranches, agricultural lands, and registration of pesticides. (b) '"Health manpower" means physicians (including osteopaths); dentists; sanitary engineers; registered professional nurses; and such other occupations as may be included in the List of Health Manpower Occupations issued for the purposes of this Executive Order by the Director of the Office of Emergency Planning after agreement by the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. (c) "Health resources" means manpower, material, and facilities required to prevent the impairment of, improve, and restore the physical and mental health conditions of the civilian population. (d) "Emergency welfare services" means feeding; clothing; housing or lodging in private and congregate facilities; registration; locating and reuniting families; care of unaccompanied children, the aged, the handicapped, and other groups needing specialized care or service; necessary financial or other assistance; counseling and referral services to families and individuals; aid to welfare institutions under national emergency or post-attack conditions; and all other feasible welfare aid and services to people in need during a civil defense emergency. Such measures include organization, direction, and provision of services to be instituted before attack, in the event of strategic or tactical evacuation, and after attack in the event of evacuation or of refuge in shelters. (e) "Education," as used in this order, means the utilization of formal public and private school systems, from elementary through college, for the dissemination of instructional material guidance, and training in the protection of life and property from enemy attack. SEC. 3. Health Functions. With respect to emergency health services, as defined above, and in consonance with national civil defense plans, programs and operations of the Department of Defense under Executive Order No. 10952, the Secretary shall: (a) National program guidance. Develop plans and issue guidance designed to utilize to the maximum extent the existing civilian health resources of the Federal Government, and with their active participation, assistance, and consent, the health resources of the States and local political subdivisions thereof, and of other civilian organizations and agencies concerned with the health of the population, under all conditions of national emergency. Maintain relations with health professions and institutions to foster mutual understanding of Federal emergency plans which affect health activities. (b) Professional training. Develop and direct a nationwide program to train health manpower both in professional and technical occupational content and in civil defense knowledge and skills. Develop and distribute health education material for inclusion in the curricula of schools, colleges, professional schools, government schools, and other educational facilities throughout the United States. Develop and distribute civil defense information relative to health services to States, voluntary agencies and professional groups. (c) Emergency water supply. Prepare plans to assure the provision of usable public water supplies for essential community uses in an emergency. This shall include inventorying existing supplies, developing new sources, performing research, setting standards, and planning distribution. In carrying on these activities, the Department shall have primary responsibility but will make maximum use of the resources and competence of State and local authorities and of other Federal agencies. (d) Radiation. Develop and coordinate programs of radiation measurement and assessment as may be necessary to carry out the responsibilities involved in the provision of emergency health services. (e) Biological and chemical warfare. Develop and coordinate programs for the prevention, detection, and identification of human exposure to chemical and biological warfare agents as may be necessary to carry out the responsibilities involved in the provision of emergency health services including the provision of guidance and consultation to Federal, State, and local authorities on measures for minimizing the effects of biological or chemical warfare. (f) Food, drugs, and biologicals. Plan and direct national programs for the maintenance of purity and safety in the manufacture and distribution of food, drugs, and biologicals in an emergency. (g) Disabled Survivors . Prepare national plans for emergency operations of vocational rehabilitation and related agencies, and for measures and resources necessary to rehabilitate and make available for employment those disabled persons among the surviving population. (h) Salvage and rehabilitation. Develop plans for salvage of supplies and equipment and rehabilitation of health services, supplies, and facilities after attack. SEC. 4. Welfare Functions. With respect to emergency welfare services as defined above, and in consonance with national civil defense plans, programs and operations of the Department of Defense under Executive Order No. 10952, the Secretary shall: (a) National program guidance. Develop plans and issue guidance for an integrated national program for emergency welfare services and, working with other Federal departments and agencies, provide for extending guidance and technical assistance to State and local welfare departments in the development and operation of their plans for the community organization of emergency welfare services. (b) Federal support. Cooperate in the development of Federal support procedures, through joint planning with other departments and agencies, including but not limited to the Post Office Department, the Department of Labor, and the Selective Service System, the Housing and Home Finance Agency, and resource agencies including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Commerce for logistic support of State and community welfare services in an emergency. (c) Emergency welfare training. Develop and direct a nationwide program to train emergency welfare manpower for the execution of the functions set forth in this order, develop welfare educational materials, including self-help program materials for use with welfare organizations and professional schools, and develop and distribute civil defense information relative to emergency welfare services to States, voluntary agencies, and professional groups. (d) Financial aid. Develop plans and procedures for financial assistance to individuals injured or in want as a result of enemy attack and for welfare institutions in need of such assistance in an emergency. (e) Professional liaison. Maintain relations with national voluntary welfare organizations and related national professional and business organizations to foster mutual understanding and support of emergency welfare plans and activities. SEC. 5. Education Functions. With respect to education as defined above, and in consonance with national civil defense plans, programs and operations of the Department of Defense under Executive Order No. 10952, the Secretary shall develop and issue through appropriate channels instructional materials and provide suggestions and guidance to assist schools, colleges, and other educational agencies to incorporate emergency protective measures and long-range civil defense concepts into their programs. This involves assistance to various levels of education to develop an understanding of the role of the individual, family, and community for civil defense in the nuclear age, as well as the maintenance of relations with educators, national and State education associations, foundations, and other related organizations to foster mutual understanding and support of civil defense activities. SEC. 6. Facilities Protection and Damage Assessment. In consonance with the national civil defense plans, programs and operations of the Department of Defense under Executive Order No. 10952, the Secretary shall: (a) Facilities protection. Provide industry protection guidance material adapted to the needs of health, welfare, and education facilities and promote a national program to stimulate, guide, and assist facilities such as hospitals, clinics, public water plants, waste disposal plants and facilities for other emergency health services, welfare institutions, and schools in methods of disaster preparedness and control in order to minimize the effects of overt or covert attack and maintain continuity of capacity to serve the public in an emergency. Guidance and assistance shall include but not be limited to: organizing and training facility employees, employee shelter, evacuation plans, records protection, continuity of management, emergency repair, deconcentration or dispersal of facilities, and the organization of mutual aid associations for emergency. (b) Damage assessment. Maintain a capability to assess the effects of attack on health, welfare, and education facilities and personnel both at national and field levels and provide data to the Department of Defense. SEC. 7. Resources. The Secretary shall periodically assess assigned resources available from all sources in order to estimate availability under an emergency situation, analyze resource estimates in relation to estimated requirements in order to identify problem areas and develop appropriate recommendations and programs. Provide data and assistance before and after attack for national resource evaluation purposes of the Office of Emergency Planning. SEC. 8. Relative Urgencies. The Secretary shall develop standards and relative urgencies for emergency health and welfare services for guidance of Federal agencies, States, and communities in providing maximum protection to survivors, and for the purpose of conserving, improving availability, and allocating such resources. SEC. 9. Requirements. The Secretary shall periodically assemble, develop as appropriate, and evaluate requirements for assigned resources and services, taking into account the estimated needs for military as well as civilian purposes. Such evaluations shall take into consideration the geographical distribution of requirements under emergency conditions. SEC. 10. Claimancy. The Secretary shall prepare plans to claim materials, manpower, equipment, supplies and services needed to carry out assigned responsibilities and other essential functions of the Department, from the appropriate agency and work with such agencies in developing programs to insure availability of such resources in an emergency. SEC. 11. Stockpiles. The Secretary shall assist the Office of Emergency Planning in formulating and carrying out stockpiling of strategic and critical materials and survival items. The Secretary shall also plan and direct the procurement, storage, maintenance, inspection, survey, distribution, and utilization of essential supplies and equipment for emergency health services. SEC. 12. Research. Within the framework of Federal research objectives, the Secretary shall supervise or conduct research in areas directly concerned with carrying out emergency preparedness responsibilities for health, education, and welfare programs. With respect to the emergency health and welfare services assignment, this is defined as, but not limited to (1) development of medical means for the prevention and care of casualties (including those from thermonuclear weapons, radiation exposure, and biological and chemical warfare, as well as from other weapons); (2) research in preventive medicines, basic biology and environmental sanitation directed to maintaining the health of noncasualty population; (3) pre-attack and post-attack target research in health services; (4) protection of resources and protocol essential to carrying out long term basic and applied research in the post-attack period; and (5) the development of techniques for the most efficient utilization of civilian health manpower. Designate representatives for necessary ad hoc or task force groups and provide advice and assistance to other agencies in planning for research in areas involving the Department's interest. SEC. 13. Functional Guidance. The Secretary, in carrying out the functions assigned in this order, shall be guided by the following: (a) Interagency cooperation. The Secretary shall assume the initiative in developing joint plans for the coordination of emergency civilian health services and welfare services programs of those departments and agencies which have responsibility for any segment of such activities. He shall utilize to the maximum those capabilities of other agencies qualified to perform or assist in the performance of assigned functions by contractual or other agreements. (b) Presidential coordination. The Director of the Office of Emergency Planning shall advise and assist the President in determining policy for, and assist him in coordinating the performance of functions under this order with the total national preparedness program. (c) Emergency planning. Emergency plans and programs, and emergency organization structure required thereby, shall be developed as an integral part of the continuing activities of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare on the basis that it will have the responsibility for carrying out such programs during an emergency. The Secretary shall be prepared to implement all appropriate plans developed under this order. Modifications and temporary organization changes, based on emergency conditions, will be in accordance with policy determination by the President. SEC. 14. Emergency Actions. Nothing in this order shall be construed as conferring authority under Title III of the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, as amended, or otherwise, to put into effect any emergency plan, procedure, policy, program, or course of action prepared or developed pursuant to this order. Such authority is reserved to the President. SEC. 15. Redelegation. The Secretary is hereby authorized to redelegate within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare the functions hereinabove assigned to him. SEC. 16. Prior Actions. To the extent of any inconsistency between the provisions of any prior order and the provisions of this order, the latter shall control. Emergency Preparedness Orders Nos. 4 and 5 (heretofore issued by the Director, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization) (26 F.R. 656-658), are hereby revoked. JOHN F. KENNEDY THE WHITE HOUSE, February 16, 1962