From the thesis abstract: "The events of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina have forever changed the way we look at disaster readiness and response from an emergency-response perspective at the local, state, and federal levels of government. A public expectancy of preparedness and resilience for emergency-response organizations that leverages collaboration in order to meet mission requirements is a primary focus of government. To assist emergency-responder readiness at the state and local levels of government, the federal government has increased homeland security spending by more than 350 percent since 2001 (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2012). Because of current fiscal constraints posed by a lagging economy, local and state emergency responders must find a more efficient way to prepare and manage disaster preparedness and response. Using the state of Texas as its focus, a policy analysis of centralized and decentralized disaster response has been studied in order to explore more efficient methods of disaster response. The emphasis is an analysis of how the fire service in Texas is integrated into Texas Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue, and how the statewide model of disaster response could be organized to maximize cost effectiveness and emergency responder capability."