National
Incident
Management
System An Introduction
(IS-700)
National Incident
Management System
NIMS grew out of Federal concern with the
absence of an ICS that was standard across the
nation.
While originally ICS was the focus, NIMS soon
grew into an entire emergency management
organization system.
NIMS is extremely similar to the California
Standardized Emergency Management System
(SEMS)
The National Incident Management System
 Homeland Security Presidential
Directive 5 ordered the
establishment of a National Incident
Management System (NIMS).
 NIMS provides a consistent
nationwide approach for responding
to all kinds of incidents – no matter
what the size, scope, cause or
complexity.
The National Incident Management System
A comprehensive, national approach to
incident management
• Applicable at all jurisdictional levels and
across functional disciplines
• Be applicable across a full spectrum of hazard
scenarios
• Improve coordination and cooperation
between public and private entities
The National Incident Management System
What is the
chief benefit
of NIMS?
• It is Applicable across jurisdictions and
functions.
• Used for all types of emergencies
• Encourages interoperability
• Enhances the ability of different classes of
responders to work effectively together
The National Incident Management System
CONCEPTS and PRINCIPLES
• NIMS provides a flexible framework
that facilitates government and
private entities working together to
manage domestic incidents.
• NIMS provides a set of standardized
organizational structures, as well as
requirements for processes, procedures,
and systems.
National Incident Management System Components
NIMS is comprised of several components that work together as a
system to provide a national framework for preparing for, preventing,
responding to, and recovering from domestic incidents
•
•
•
•
Command and Management
Preparedness
Resource Management
• Supporting Technologies
• Ongoing Management and Maintenance
Communication and Information Management
National Incident
Management System
COMPONENT 1
Incident Command And Management
•
NIMS employs two levels of incident management structures
depending upon the nature of the incident (ICS and MACS).
•
NIMS requires that responses to all domestic incidents utilize a
common management structure.
•
ICS represents organizational “best practices” and has
become the standard for incident management across the
country
ICS is interdisciplinary and organizationally flexible to meet the
needs of incidents of any kind, size or complexity.
•
Features of the Incident Command System
ICS has several features that make it well suited to managing incidents.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Common terminology
Organizational resources
Manageable Span of Control
Organizational facilities
Use of position titles
Reliance on an Incident Action
Plan (IAP)
• Integrated communications
• Accountability
Features of the Incident Command System (2)
• Common Terminology
 The ability to communicate within ICS is critical
 ICS requires the use of common terminology
 In addition to standard titles for facilities and positions, the use of
“clear text” is essential
Uncommon Terminology: “Response Branch, this is HazMat1.
We are 10-24.”
Common Terminology: “Response Branch, this is HazMat1.
We have completed our assignment.”
Features of the Incident Command System (3)
•
Organizational Resources
 Resources are “typed” with respect to capability; i.e., personnel,
facilities, major equipment.
•
Manageable Span of Control
 Maintaining adequate span of control throughout the ICS
organization is critical.
 Effective span of control may vary from three to seven.
Features of the Incident Command System (4)
•
Organizational Facilities
Common terminology is also used to:
 Define incident facilities
 Help clarify the activities that
take place at a specific facility
 Identify organizational members
at the facility
Features of the Incident Command System (5)
•
Use of Position Titles
ICS positions have distinct titles

Only the Incident Commander is called “Commander”

Only the heads of Sections are called “Chief”
• Learning and using standard terminology helps reduce
confusion between the day-to-day position occupied by an
individual and his/her position at or during the incident
ICS Position Titles and Organizational Levels
Use of Position Titles – Supervisory Levels
Organizational Level
Title
Incident Commander
SEOC Director (Policy Chief)
Command Staff
Officer
General Staff (Section)
Chief
Branch
Director
Division / Group
Supervisor
Unit
Leader
Strike Team / Task Force
Leader
ICS Relies on Incident Action Plans
Reliance On An Incident Action Plan
• IAPs provide a coherent means to communicate the overall
incident objectives in the context of both operational and support
activities.
• IAPs depend on management by objectives to accomplish
response tactics.
• Objectives are used to:
 Develop and issue assignments, plans, procedures and protocols
 Direct efforts to attain the objectives in support of defined
strategies
ICS Requires Integrated Communications
Integrated Communications
Integrated communications include:
• The “hardware systems that
transfer information
• Planning for the use of all
available communication
frequencies and resources
• The procedures and processes
for transferring information
Accountability is a Critical ICS Feature
Accountability
• Effective accountability at all jurisdiction levels and within
individual functional areas during an incident is essential.
• To that end, ICS requires:

An orderly chain of command

Check-in for all responders

Unity of command
NIMS produces two familiar concepts but gives
them new (or federal specific) meanings
NIMS recommends variations in incident
management. The two most common variations
involve the use of:
UNIFIED COMMAND
AND AREA COMMAND
Unified Command means grouping together many
agencies with different functions
UNIFIED COMMAND
Multi-Agency Response
UNIFIED COMMAND
( Fire, Police, EMS, Public Works )
Operations
Planning
Logistics
Finance/
Administration
Example of Unified Command: A hazardous materials spill that contaminates a
nearby reservoir may require that FD, Water Authority, LEPC, Health and
Environment respond to the incident.
UNIFIED COMMAND
How Does It Work?
•
•
Agencies work together to:

Analyze Intelligence Information

Establish Objectives and Strategies for a single IAP
Unified Command does not change other features of ICS

Participate in the decision-making process
Area Command is used to group responses to multiple
incidents in the same jurisdiction or incidents with a
response area that crosses jurisdictions
AREA COMMAND
ICP 1
ICP 2
ICP 3
An Area Command is an organization established to oversee the management
of:
•
Multiple incidents, each being managed by an ICS of its own
•
Large incidents that cross jurisdictional boundaries
Area Command is particularly relevant to public health emergencies
because these incidents are typically not site specific and may cross
jurisdictions
Area Command: What does it do?
The Area Command has responsibility for:
•
Setting overall strategy and priorities
• Allocating critical resources
• Ensuring proper incident management
• Ensuring that objectives are met.
• Ensuring that strategies are followed.
Area Command: How is it organized?
AREA COMMAND
Planning
Logistics
Finance
An Area Command is organized similarly to a an ICS structure, but ...
Because operations are conducted on-scene, and area
commands are not scene based, there is no Operations Section
Multi-agency Coordinating Systems
(What Are They?)
MACS are a combination of resources that are integrated into a
common framework for coordinating and supporting domestic incident
management activities. These resources MAY include:
•
•
•
Facilities
Equipment
Personnel
•
•
Procedures
Communications
Multi-agency Coordinating Systems
(What Do They Do?)
The primary functions of Multiagency Coordination Systems are to:
• Support incident management policies and priorities
• Facilitate logistics support and resource tracking
• Coordinate incident related information
• Coordinate interagency and intergovernmental issues regarding
incident management policies, priorities, and strategies
Multi-agency Coordinating Systems
(What Do They Do?)
The primary functions of Multi-agency Coordination Systems are to:
• Support incident management policies and priorities
• Facilitate logistics support and resource tracking
• Coordinate incident related information
• Coordinate interagency and intergovernmental issues regarding
incident management policies, priorities, and strategies
• Make resource allocation decisions based on incident
management priorities
Multi-agency Coordinating Systems Elements
Multi-agency Coordinating Systems include EOCs and in certain multijurisdictional or complex incidents, Multi-agency Coordination Entities
Emergency Operations Center
• Locations from which coordination of information and resources
take place.
• Are typically established by the emergency management agency at the
local, tribal or State levels.
Multiagency Coordination Entity
• Typically consist of principles from organizations with direct incident
management responsibilities, or with
• Significant incident management support or resource capabilities
Multi-agency Coordinating Systems Elements
Emergency Operations Center organization and staffing is flexible, but
should include:
• Coordination (Operations)
• Communications (Logistics/Operations)
• Resource dispatching and tracking (Logistics)
• Information collection, analysis, and dissemination
(Planning/Logistics)
EOCs may also support multi-agency coordination and joint
information activities.
Multi-agency Coordinating Systems Elements
Multi-agency Coordination Entity Incident Responsibilities include:
• Ensuring each agency is providing necessary status information.
• Establishing priorities between incidents
• Acquiring and allocating required resources.
• Coordinating and identifying future resource requirements.
• Coordinating and resolving policy issues.
• Providing strategic coordination.
Multi-agency Coordinating Systems Elements
Multi-agency Coordination Entity Post-incident Responsibilities
Following an incident(s) MAC Entities are typically responsible for
ensuring revisions are acted on and may include revisions made to:
•
•
•
Plans
Procedures
Communications
•
Staffing
•
Other capabilities necessary for improved
incident management.
National Incident
Management System
Public Information Officer
• Advises the Incident or SEOC Command on all public information
matters related to the management of the incident, including:
 Media and public inquiries
 Emergency public information and warnings
 Rumor monitoring and control
 Other functions necessary for coordinating, clearing and
disseminating accurate and timely information
• Establishes and operates within the parameters established for
the Joint Information System (JIS)
Joint Information System (JIS)
•
Provides an organized, integrated, and coordinated mechanism for
providing information to the public in an emergency.
• Key elements include:



interagency coordination and integration,
developing and delivering coordinated messages, and
support for decision-makers.
• Includes plans, protocols, and structures used to provide information.
Joint Information Center (JIC)
(formerly JENC)
• Provides a central location for integrated and coordinated information
 across jurisdictions and agencies,
 among all government partners,
 the private sector, and
 non-governmental agencies
•
The physical location where PI staff can co-locate to perform the
following functions:
 critical emergency information,
 crisis communications, and
 public affairs.
Joint Information Center (2)
•
Provides the organizational structure for coordinating and
disseminating official information.
•
Incident Commanders and Multiagency Coordinating Entities are
responsible for following functions:
 establishing and overseeing JICs, including
 processes for coordinating and clearing public information.
• In Unified Command, those contributing to joint public
information management do not lose their individual identities
or responsibilities.
Levels of Joint Information Centers
• JICs may be established at all levels of
government.
• All JICs must communicate
and coordinate with each other
on an on-going basis using
established JIS protocols.
Joint Information Centers Characteristics
JICs have several characteristics in common:
 Includes representatives of all players in the management of an
incident .
 Each JIC must have procedures and protocols for
communicating and coordinating effectively with other JICs and
appropriate ICS components.
• A single JIC is preferable, but the JIS must be flexible to accommodate
multiple JICs.
Typical Joint Information Center Organization
Joint Information
Center
Press Secretary
(jurisdictional)
Research Team
Liaison
(as required)
Media Team
Logistics Team
Additional functions may be added as required to meet the public
information needs of the incident(s)
National Incident
Management System
Primarily applies to jurisdictions not fire
departments.
PFD maintains a planning process that
produces SOPs and this process is ongoing.
What Is Preparedness?
Preparedness:
• Is a key, critical phase of the emergency management cycle.
• Involves all of the actions required to establish and sustain the level
of capability necessary to execute a wide range of incident management
operations.
• Is implemented through a continuous cycle of :
 planning,
 training and equipping,
 exercising
 evaluating, and
 taking action to correct and mitigate.
What Is Preparedness? (Continued)
Preparedness:
•
Ensures mission integration and interoperability in response to
emergent crisis.
•
Includes efforts to coordinate between public and private sectors.
•
Is the responsibility of individual jurisdictions in coordinating their
activities among all preparedness stakeholders.
Preparedness Tools
NIMS provides tools to help ensure and enhance preparedness. These tools
include:
• Preparedness organizations and programs that provide or establish
processes for planning, training, and exercising.
•
Personnel qualification and certification
•
Equipment certification
•
Mutual aid
•
Publication management
National-level preparedness standards related to NIMS will be maintained
and managed through a collaborative process at the NIMS Integration
Center
Responsibilities of Preparedness Organizations
Preparedness organizations at all levels should follow NIMS standards
and undertake the following tasks:
•
•
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Establish and coordinate emergency plans and protocols.
Integrate and coordinate the activities and jurisdictions within
their purview.
Establish guidelines and protocols to promote interoperability
among jurisdictions and agencies.
•
Adopt guidelines and protocols for resource management.
•
•
Establish priorities for resources and other response requirements.
Establish and maintain multi-agency coordination mechanisms.
Preparedness Planning
•
Preparedness plans describe how personnel, equipment, and other
resources will be used to support incident management.
•
Plans represent the operational core of preparedness and provide
mechanisms for:
 Setting priorities
 Integrating multiple entities and functions
 Establishing collaborative relationships
 Ensuring that communications and other systems support the
complete spectrum of incident management activities.
Types of Preparedness Plans
Jurisdictions must develop and maintain several types of plans, including:
•
Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs) – How jurisdiction will respond
to emergencies.
•
Procedures – Overviews, SOPs, field operations guides, job aids, etc.
•
Preparedness Plans – How training needs will be identified and met, how
resources will be obtained, facilities and equipment required for hazards.
•
Corrective Action or Mitigation Plans – which includes activities
required to implement procedures based on lessons learned from actual
incidents or training and exercises.
•
Recovery Plans – Actions to be taken to facilitate long-term recovery
Training & The NIMS Integration Center
Training and Exercises
Organizations and personnel at all levels (governmental and private sector) must:
• Be trained to improve all-hazard incident management capability
• Participate in realistic exercises to improve integration and interoperability.
NIMS Integration Center
To assist jurisdictions in meeting these needs the NIMS Integration Center will:
•
Facilitate the development and dissemination of national standards.
•
Facilitate the use of modeling and simulation in T&E programs.
•
Facilitate the definition of general training requirements and approved
courses for all NIMS users.
Review and approve discipline-specific training requirements and courses.
•
Personnel Qualification and Certification
•
Under NIMS, preparedness is based on national standards for the qualification and
certification of emergency response personnel.
•
Managed by the NIMS Integration Center standardization will help ensure a
jurisdictions key response personnel will possess minimum skills, knowledge,
and experience. Standards to include:

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Training
Experience
Credentialing
Currency
Physical and mental fitness.
• Personnel certified to support interstate incidents will be required to meet
national qualification and certification standards.
NIMS Certification of Equipment
•
•
A critical component of operational preparedness is that equipment:

Performs to certain standards, and

Is compatible with equipment used by another jurisdiction.
To facilitate national equipment certification, the NIMS Integration Center will:

Facilitate the development and/or publication of national equipment
standards, guidelines, and protocols.

Review and approve lists of emergency responder equipment that
meet national requirements.
Mutual Aid Agreements and EMAC
Mutual Aid Agreements and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact:
•
Provide the means for one jurisdiction to provide resources or other support to
another during an incident.
•
Facilitates the timely delivery of assistance during an incident
•
Jurisdictions (including States) are encouraged to enter into agreements with:

Other jurisdictions

Private sector and non-governmental organizations

Private organizations, i.e., American Red Cross
National Incident
Management System
What is Resource Management?
Resource management involves four
primary tasks:
• Establishing systems for describing,
inventorying, requesting, and tracking
resources.
• Activating those systems prior to,
during and after an incident.
• Dispatching resources prior to,
during and after an incident.
• Deactivating or recalling resources
during or after an incident.
Resource Management Concepts
Resource management under NIMS is based on:
•
Providing a uniform method of identifying, acquiring,
allocating, and tracking resources.
•
Classifying kinds and types of resources required to support
incident management.
•
Using a credentialing system tied to uniform training and
certification standards.
Incorporating resources contributed by private sector and
non-governmental organizations.
•
Managing Resources
•
To assist local managers, NIMS includes standard procedures,
methods, and functions in its resource management functions.
•
By following the standards established by NIMS, resource managers
are able to identify, order, mobilize, etc. resources more efficiently.
•
Resource “typing” involves categorizing resources by capability
based on measurable standards of capability and performance.


Defines more precisely the resource capabilities needed to meet
specific requirements.
Designed to be simple to facilitate frequent use and accuracy
Managing Resources (2)
•
Certification and credentialing help ensure that all personnel
possess a minimum level of training, experience, physical and
mental fitness for the position they have been tasked to fill.
•
Resource managers identify, refine, and validate resource
requirements throughout the incident by using a process to identify:



Who and How Much are needed.
Where and When it is needed.
Who will be receiving it.
Managing Resources (3)
•
Requests for items that the Incident Commander cannot obtain
locally MUST be submitted through the EOC or MAC entity.
•
Resource tracking and mobilization are directly linked. Resource
arrivals on-scene must be checked in, processed, and order validation.
Resource managers use established procedures to track resources
continuously from mobilization thru demobilization.
•
•
•
Managers should plan for demobilization at the same time they begin
the mobilization process.
Recovery involves the final disposition of all resources.
•
Reimbursement provides a mechanism for funding critical needs .
National Incident
Management System
Communications and Information
Management Principles
Communications and Information Management Principles
• Communications and information management are based on the
following concepts and principles:
 A common operating picture that is accessible across jurisdictions and
agencies is necessary.
 A common operating picture helps to ensure consistency at all
levels, among all who respond to or manage incident response.
 Common communications and data standards are fundamental.
Principles of Supporting Technologies
• NIMS will leverage science and technology to improve capabilities at a
lower cost .
• NIMS will base its supporting technology on five key principles:
1.
Interoperability and compatibility.
2.
Technology support.
3.
4.
Technology standards.
Broad-based requirements.
5.
Strategic Planning and R&D.
Managing Communications and Information
• NIMS communications and information systems enable the essential
functions needed to provide a common operating picture and
interoperability for:
 Incident management communications.
 Information Management.
 Interoperability Standards.
• The NIMS Integration Center will also develop a national database for
incident reports.