Project Summary: The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1600 "Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs" is the gold standard in emergency management and business contingency planning for both the public and the private sector. This concise standard provides the basis for the national Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). The standard is updated every few years and describes the essential elements for successful contingency planning. Two of the key elements of a successful, or blue-ribbon, contingency plan are success and interdependency. Success may be described as resiliency, or the ability of a region, community, or organization to quickly resume normal services or operations after a disaster, reducing the negative, long-term consequences of the event. Interdependency means that contingency planning must also take into account how reliant and therefore, vulnerable your community or organization is with regard to goods, services, or other assista