The old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" has assumed renewed importance with regard to planning for and execution of emergency responses since 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. As Stephen Flynn writes in The Edge of Disaster, "The loss of life and economic fallout that disasters reap will always be magnified by our lack of preparedness to manage the risk actively and to respond effectively when things go wrong."1 The United States' ability to manage and respond effectively to natural and manmade disasters is influenced by the number of agencies and the levels of government...