PandemicFEMA’s Initial Response to COVID-19
During the first months of FEMA’s response to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, the United States faced a debilitating shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare personnel and ventilators for seriously ill patients in hospitals. DHS IG examined the effectiveness of FEMA’s response.
During the first months of FEMA’s response to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, the United States faced a debilitating shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare personnel and ventilators for seriously ill patients in hospitals.
The DHS Inspector General has conducted an audit of FEMA’s response to determine how effectively FEMA supported and coordinated federal efforts to distribute PPE to health care workers and ventilators to hospitals.
The audit reports that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, FEMA worked closely with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other federal agencies to facilitate and expedite the shipment of PPE and ventilators. The audit finds, however, that the magnitude of the global event exposed weaknesses in FEMA’s resource request system and allocation processes.
Specifically, WebEOC — the system FEMA used to process resource requests — including requests for PPE and ventilators — contained unreliable data to inform allocation decisions and ensure requests were accurately adjudicated. This was the result of the fact that FEMA did not develop controls to validate requests and prevent incomplete, inaccurate, or duplicate data entries. FEMA also did not ensure that WebEOC users received training in proper use of the system.
In addition, although FEMA developed a process to allocate the limited supply of ventilators, the agency did not have a similarly documented process for PPE.
Finally, FEMA did not have strategic guidance clearly outlining the roles and responsibilities used to lead the federal response. FEMA’s decision to prioritize ongoing pandemic response efforts without updating its written guidance and strategic plans hobbled FEMA’s coordination efforts.
The audit says that FEMA, to its credit, evaluated its COVID-19 response operations, identifying similar key findings and recommendations aimed at improving current and future responses, including making updates to its WebEOC system.
Read the IG’s report here.
