Introduction to CIMS
Trainee Workbook
Introduction
Programme Objectives
This programme is designed to introduce you to the New Zealand Coordinated Incident
Management System (CIMS).
The objectives of the programme are to provide you with the appropriate information
to:
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describe the role and purpose of CIMS
demonstrate knowledge of the elements, terminology and organisational
structure of CIMS
demonstrate knowledge of incident control procedures in a CIMS operating
environment
Workbook
This workbook can be kept as a reference guide.
Video
You may wish to view the introduction to CIMS video on YouTube. It is available here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WarVu8tBWyU
There are bigger versions of the diagrams at the end of the presentation if you are
having trouble reading them.
Assessment
You can be assessed to obtain unit standard 17279 – Demonstrate knowledge of the
coordinated incident management system (CIMS). The assessment will be provided by
your trainer or is available from EMQUAL. We have included the 17279 Evidence Guide
at the end of this workbook to show you what you will need to know for the assessment.
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 1
Scenario
Read the following scenario.
Scenario One – ‘Over the Top’
Scenario
A car has driven off the road over a sheer bank, and while it is not in immediate danger
of falling further, there is no safe access to it from either above or below. It will require
specialist climbing skills for a rescue. There is an injured and incapacitated person in the
car.
A single person police unit is the first on the scene. Fire and ambulance are notified
and arrive shortly after the police unit, with their appropriate rescue squads.
Before any rescue can get underway, there is a dispute about who is in charge.
Group work
In groups consider and discuss the following:
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What happened?
Who was affected?
Who was in charge?
Who would be responsible?
Which organisation would undertake the rescue?
Which agencies would provide support?
What problems arose that could have affected the success of the rescue?
In particular, consider:
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The organisational response structure that might be needed
Command and control relationships
What resources were needed versus what was available
What could be done to correct or avoid any issues or problems that might arise
the next time
Be prepared to share your group’s comments with the others.
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17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 Notes
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 3
Presentation
Take note of the key points during the presentation.
___________________________________ ___________________________________ The New Zealand Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS)
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ An Introduction
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ CIMS
___________________________________ • A structure to manage
emergency incidents
• Defines rules for the
organisation involved
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Key components of Emergency
Management
___________________________________ • Reduction
• Readiness
• Response
• Recovery
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ 4
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Where can CIMS be used?
Planned events
Unplanned events
Official visits
Road accidents
Concerts
Natural disasters
Sports events
Search and rescue
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ CIMS focuses on where
organisations meet
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ CIMS Principles
___________________________________ • Common terminology
• Modular organisation
• Communications
• Incident Action Plans
• Span of control
• Incident facilities
• Resource management
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Lead Agency
___________________________________ • Authority for control
• Determined by
statute
agency protocols
agreements
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ 17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 5
___________________________________ Lead Agency Examples
Incident
Lead Agency
House Fire
NZ Fire Service
Earthquake
Ministry of Civil Defence/
Civil Defence Emergency
Management Group
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Civil Disturbance New Zealand Police
Marine Pollution Maritime New Zealand
Rural fire
___________________________________ Rural Fire Authority
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Support Agency
___________________________________ • Contributing services or
resources to a lead agency
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Command, Control and
Coordination
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Four Key Components
___________________________________ • Control
• Planning / intelligence
• Operations
• Logistics
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ The foundation on which CIMS is
built
___________________________________ 6
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Incident Management Diagram
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Responsibilities of the IC
___________________________________ • Assume control
• Establish ICP
• Protect life and property
• Establish CIMS structure
• Appoint, brief, and task staff
• Initiate IAP planning cycle
• Liaise with outside organisations
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Operations
___________________________________ • Manage operational activities
• Provide input to the IAP
• Set the operational structure
• Identify resources
• Implement IAP
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Planning / Intelligence
___________________________________ • Gather and disseminate
information
• Analyse incident data
• Identify resource requirements
• Prepare IAP
• Maintain resource status and
location
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ 17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 7
___________________________________ Logistics
___________________________________ Provide and maintain:
• Personnel
• Materials
• Facilities
• Services
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Incident Facilities
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Incident Action Plan
Outlines objectives and management
of incident and describes:
___________________________________ • Management structure
• Objectives, strategies and tasks
• Critical elements
• Communication and information
flow
• Safety plan
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Multi‐Incident Response
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ 8
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Advantages of CIMS
___________________________________ • Common incident management
structure
• Systematic information
management
• Standardised key management
principles
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Notes
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 9
Diagrams
1. Where Organisations Meet:
2. Command and Control:
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17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 3. Incident Management Diagram:
4. Incident Facilities:
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 11
5. Multi-Incident response:
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17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 Activity
Complete the following activity either in groups or individually then share your
ideas with the group. You can use the table to record your ideas.
1. Think of one planned and one unplanned event where CIMS could be
used.
2. List which agencies could be involved at each event.
3. Describe what role each agency would play at the incident.
Planned Event
Unplanned Event
What is the
event?
Which
agencies are
involved?
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 13
What does
each
agency do
at the event?
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17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 Self Check
These questions will help to prepare you for the assessment. Use your notes to
help you with the answers. Your trainer can help you if you have any questions.
What are the four components of emergency management?
R
R
R
R
What is an EOC? When is it used? Who is based there?
What sort of information goes into an Incident Action Plan?
What are the seven (7) principles of CIMS?
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17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 15
What are the four components of a CIMS organisational structure?
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What is a lead agency?
What is a support agency?
What is a situation Report?
What is the difference between Command and Control?
What happens at each of these incident facilities?
Incident Control Point –
Assembly Area –
Safe Forward Point –
Staging Area –
Helibase –
Triage Area –
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17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 Notes
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 17
Evidence Guide
Unit 17279: Demonstrate knowledge of the coordinated
incident management system (CIMS)
Level 2 Credit 2 Version 4
This document can be used by learners and assessors, and provides an outline of the
requirements of the unit standard, and what would be expected to be assessed.

It provides a guide for the collection of evidence to meet the requirements of
17279. It is not the assessment
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As an assessor it is essential that you are familiar with the unit standard
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Learners should only take this assessment when they feel they have had adequate
time to prepare, and feel confident in their ability to meet the requirements
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While this resource describes the evidence that is required to meet the
requirements of 17279, there may be other methods for gaining the required
evidence, e.g. oral discussions, attestations, logbooks, observations from actual
events, or simulated training. Any records and/or relevant information should be
given to the assessor prior to the assessment, for their consideration. If evidence is
gained from other sources it should be attached to the assessment
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This unit standard carries a credit value of 2, which means that without any prior
knowledge or experience, it will require approximately 20 hours of learning,
practice, and assessment in order to be fully familiar with the requirements involved
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If at the time of assessment there is a difference in views between the assessor and
learner with regard to the assessor’s decision, this should be discussed between the
assessor and learner. Further information regarding the appeals procedure is
provided on the EMQUAL website www.EMQUAL.org.nz.
Entry information:
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18
Open.
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 Explanatory Notes
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Primary references for this unit standard are approved training resources endorsed
by the National Joint Agency CIMS Steering Committee. These references are
available from the Fire and Rescue Services Industry Training Organisation, PO Box
11988, Wellington 6142.
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Definitions
An incident is a disruption, accidentally or deliberately caused, which requires a
response from one or more agency.
An event is an incident or a planned activity that occurs in a particular place
during a particular interval of time.
An emergency is an event, actual or imminent, which endangers or threatens to
endanger life, property, or the environment, and which requires a significant and
coordinated response.
Agency procedures refer to written agency requirements for responding to, and
taking action at, emergencies.
The coordinated incident management system (CIMS) is a structure established to
systematically manage emergency incidents.
17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012 19
Unit 17279: Demonstrate knowledge of the coordinated
incident management system (CIMS)
Level 2 Credit 2 Version 4
EVIDENCE CRITERIA
The roles and purpose of CIMS
The following are described:
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Key components of the CIMS framework
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How CIMS can improve the performance of participating emergency
services at events
Agency roles from five (5) agencies
Elements, terminology and structure of CIMS
The following are described:
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CIMS elements
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Common emergency management terms
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CIMS structure
Incident control procedures
The following are described:
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Key operational positions
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Theory of command, control and coordination
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17279 Trainee Workbook © EMQUAL 2012