The National Incident Management System

Fact Sheet for Emergency Response Agencies

Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5
    To prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies, the United States Government shall establish a single, comprehensive approach to domestic incident management. The objective of the United States Government is to ensure that all levels of government across the Nation have the capability to work efficiently and effectively together, using a national approach to domestic incident management. 

What is the National Incident Management System, or NIMS?
The NIMS is…
–	Core set of 
•	Doctrine
•	Concepts
•	Principles
•	Terminology
•	Organizational processes
–	Applicable to all hazards
The NIMS is not…
–	An operational incident management plan
–	A resource allocation plan
–	A terrorism / WMD-specific plan
–	Designed to address international events

The NIMS has Six Components
1. Command and Management
2. Preparedness
3. Resource Management
4. Communications and Information Management
5. Supporting Technologies
6. Ongoing Management and Maintenance

1. Command and Management
The NIMS standardizes incident management for all hazards and across all levels of government.  The NIMS-standard incident command structures are based on three key constructs:
Incident Command System
Multiagency Coordination Systems
Public Information Systems

2. Preparedness
The NIMS establishes specific measures and capabilities that jurisdictions and agencies should develop and incorporate into an overall system to enhance operational preparedness for incident management on a steady-state basis in an all-hazards context.

The operational preparedness of our nation’s incident management capabilities is distinct from the preparedness of the individual citizens and private industry. 
 
3. Resource Management
The NIMS defines standardized mechanisms to describe, inventory, track, and dispatch resources before, during, and after an incident; it also defines standard procedures to recover equipment once it is no longer needed for an incident.

4. Communications & Information Management
Effective communications, information management, and information and intelligence sharing are critical aspects of domestic incident management.  The NIMS communications and information systems enable the essential functions needed to provide a common operating picture and interoperability for incident management at all levels. 

5. Supporting Technologies
The NIMS promotes national standards and interoperability for supporting technologies to successfully implement the NIMS, as well as standard technologies for specific professional disciplines or incident types.  It provides an architecture for science and technology support to incident management.

6. Ongoing Management & Maintenance
The DHS will establish a multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary NIMS Integration Center.   This Center will provide strategic direction for, and oversight of, the NIMS, supporting both routine maintenance and the continuous improvement of the system over the long term. 

All users and stakeholders—including various levels of government, functional disciplines, and private entities—will be given the opportunity to participate in the NIMS Integration Center activities. 

NIMS Timelines
March 1, 2004 – the NIMS became effective. 

October 1, 2004 – the NIMS Integration Center will publish standards, guidelines, and compliance protocols for determining whether a Federal, State, tribal, or local entity is compliant 

Other components require additional development and refinement to enable future compliance  (e.g., data and communications systems interoperability)  

NIMS Compliance Requirements
Adoption is an eligibility requirement for Federal preparedness assistance to State & local governments.

Short-term compliance for local, State, and Federal entities is possible by adopting the Incident Command System.  

FY 2005 – State and local organizations must adopt the NIMS to receive Federal preparedness assistance (through grants, contracts, and other activities).

Impact of the NIMS on Local Agencies
The NIMS recognizes the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) ICS training as a model for course curricula and materials applicable to the NIMS: 
ICS-100, Introduction to ICS
ICS-200, Basic ICS
ICS-300, Intermediate ICS
ICS-400 Advanced ICS
The USFA’s National Fire Academy and Emergency Management Institute both follow this model in their ICS training curricula.  At the local level, agencies may contact the fire department for information and training on ICS.

There is a difference in the way “intelligence” function is organized from FIRESCOPE ICS:
Under NIMS, the intelligence and information function may be organized in one of the following ways:
•	Officer within the Command Staff
•	Unit within the Planning Section
•	Branch within the Operations Section
•	Separate General Staff section

Preparedness is based on national standards for qualification and certification of emergency response personnel.

Personnel that are certified for employment in support of an incident that transcends interstate jurisdictions will be required to meet national qualification and certification standards. 

Mutual aid agreements provide the means for one jurisdiction to provide resources, facilities, services, and other required support to another jurisdiction during an incident. Each jurisdiction should be party to a mutual aid agreement with all neighboring or nearby jurisdictions, as well as relevant private sector and non-governmental organizations.  The NIMS will facilitate the development of State and local mutual aid agreements.

The full NIMS document is available for download from . . .
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NIMS-90-web.pdf

Additional information on the NIMS
www.dhs.gov
www.fema.gov
www.usfa.fema.gov
State fire training agencies
State emergency management agencies

The National Response Plan

Fact Sheet for Emergency Response Agencies

What is the National Response Plan?
A plan that consolidates individual Federal agency response plans, the Federal Response Plan, the Concept of Operations Plan, etc., into a single, comprehensive approach to the management of Federal resources and coordination of Federal agencies in response to a disaster.

The National Response Plan
Coordinates the various Federal command centers through the “Homeland Security Operations Center.”
Coordinates incident-related information with State EOCs through the “National Emergency Operations Center.”
At incidents, all Federal agencies will be coordinated through a “Joint Field Office” (JFO), under the direction of a Federal Coordinating Officer or “Principal Federal Official.”  The JFO will include:
Joint Operations Center
	Joint Information Center
Other Federal agency on-site command/ coordination centers

Command & Control

Coordination

Incident Command Post(s)
(ICP)

Joint Field Office (JFO)

Regional Homeland Security Ops Ctr (RHSOC)

Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC)

Secretary, Department of Homeland Security

State/Local Emergency Operations Centers

Governor

Structure for Federal NRP Operations

The Initial National Response Plan is in effect
The final National Response Plan is under development and should be released in Summer 2004.

Additional information on the NRP
www.dhs.gov 	
www.fema.gov