Chapter II - Domestic CBRN CM (4) Considerations: (C) Integrated CBRN CM Framework: (1) Strategic: During a CBRN incident, DHS coordinates the federal government's incident management efforts in support of the civil authorities. However, it is likely that the major elements of operational framework will have already been established IAW strategic decisions made by state and local responders in the initial hours of the response effort. A major decision is the determination of controls for the employment of first responders (police, fire, and emergency medical services) into the incident area to ensure that significant portions of the first responder community do not themselves become casualties. Another major decision concerns the ability of local civil government to control the evacuation out of the incident area. If the local government can control the evacuation through public information and rapid establishment of traffic control points, then operational conditions are favorable for the deliberate application of local, state, and federal resources at designated evacuee processing centers and urban search and rescue, decontamination, and medical triage and emergency medical sites at points upwind or crosswind from the incident area. If the local civil government is unable to control the evacuation of the civil population, then evacuation centers are established at resulting choke points either on major roads or near hospitals and will result in a less deliberate approach to application of local, state, and federal resources. Both these decisions have significant impact on the operational environment that CBRN response forces will find when they are employed into the incident area. Therefore, the initial assessments conducted by NG WMD-CSTs or other federal assessment teams are critical in providing DHS and other federal departments and agencies the necessary situational awareness to make quick decisions regarding resource sharing and coordination