| Summary: | CHDS State/Local === Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited === The first line officer in a public safety response agency is a demanding position. Often, these officers are the first leaders on the scene of a terrorist-related event or natural disaster. The role of the first line officer has changed, from directing people and securing their cooperation to developing collaborative, interdependent partnerships. The theories and models described in this study are intended to develop the capabilities of the first line officer of an emergency response agency to work in a collaborative environment and to meet the challenges with all the homeland security partners. Different types of trust and influences of organizational cultures have been explored in previous studies on collaboration. An integral part, or central idea of this thesis, is to explore how the organizational culture and institutional trust, as demonstrated in the role of the first line officer from FDNY, NYPD and EMS, can improve the collaborative capacity in the initial phases of an all-hazards event. Building collaborative capacity is a career long process that must be reinforced at every level and supported from the top down. The management of a mass casualty incident requires a synergistic approach among the first responding agencies. The time to start collaboration is not by exchanging business cards at the scene of an incident.
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