The Disaster Preparedness Program leads a continuous improvement process to ensure the National Ocean Service (NOS) and our partners provide the best possible response when a disaster strikes. The purpose of the continuous improvement program is to evaluate, learn from, and improve upon the operational management and execution of NOS’s emergency response to natural and human-caused disasters.

The continuous improvement program includes the development of after-action reports and improvement plans after each emergency response event or significant exercise. These after-action reports, coupled with realistic improvement plans, are crucial for any organization when it comes to identifying and disseminating experiences gained over time. Creating structured after-action reports helps NOS analyze how lessons-learned from response events can be used to improve performance, build capacity, and increase knowledge.

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