Coordinate Emergency

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is an emergency response system that is designed to improve preparation, coordination, and incident management in the event of a crisis. The system is designed to coordinate emergency response teams in the federal, state, and local agency levels. The NIMS is a system that was designed and implemented into the United States after the events of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001. It is designed to improve preparation, response, and prevention of a similar attack or an equally devastating disaster. This new system would improve communication between private and public entities in their efforts to respond to a many different domestic emergency management services. Possible disasters can include an act of terrorism, an urban fire, floods, nuclear disasters, earthquakes, power storms such as hurricanes and typhoons, war-related incidents, etc.

According to Homeland Security Presidential Directive, (HSPD)-5, “This system will provide a consistent nationwide approach for Federal State, and local governments to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for respond to, and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity. To provide for interoperability and compatibility among Federal, State, and local capabilities, the NIMS will include a core set of concepts, principles, terminology, and technologies covering the incident command system”.

Most incidents are handled and contained by local authorities, but there are certain instances that require multiple jurisdictions to help handle the management systems of a domestic disaster. The NIMS was designed to use the best and most effective processes available in currently existing protocols and to integrate them into a nationwide system that maximized interoperability. For the first time, both public and private organizations will be able to conduct a incident management system that is both organized and coordinated to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in the event of an emergency. The NIMS does this through a core set of principles and procedures.

Principles and Protocol:

To integrate an emergency response system that works effectively, a firm balance has been established in the NIMS system of both flexibility and standardization. While it is important to have a standard code of conduct when dealing with a dangerous and time-sensitive situation so that procedures are carried out properly, flexibility should also be established. Every situation is different, and if a unique emergency situation arises without room for flexibility, the standard code would be of no use.

Flexibility:
The NIMS provides a flexible and adjustable national structure that encompasses both government organizations and private entities at all levels. They are able to have an open line of communication so that they are able to work together in a domestic incident of any complexity, size, or location. This is necessary in all phases of a disaster or national emergency in preparation, response, and recovery.

Standardization:
NIMS integrates several tiers of protocol and emergency response systems. One of them is called the Incident Command System (ICS). There are multiagency coordination systems and public information systems for the purpose of establishing useful and reliable mediums of communication; one of the most important factors in any disaster. The standardization procedures also improve interoperability and coordination between many disciplines, including training, resource management, personnel qualification and certification, communication management, technology support, etc.

Conponents of the NIMS:

The National Incident Management System has been divided into several conponents designed to work in conjunction with each other in a fully integrated system. Each provides pieces to a framework to help prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from a variety of incidents, both big and small, and both natural or caused by man.

Command and Management:
The command and management side involves the integration of several key organizational systems:

The Incident Command System:
The ICS defines the operating characteristics, management, structure components incident management, and emergency response characteristics of organizations throughout the entire span of an emergency situation.

The ICS is designed to be widely applicable for situations in the near-term and over the course of the long-term, whether they are small incidents or complex disasters. It is a system of the NIMS used to ensure that agencies on the macro and micro level, including Federal, State, and local agencies can take advantage of the tools the ICS provides. In addition, the ICS is provided for private-sector and nongovernmental organizations. Overall, ICS is designed to facilitate activities in five different areas of function, including command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance and administration.

Untested and modern forms of disasters, such as radiological, biological, chemical and nuclear terrorism provide challenges, even for the modern ICS effort for disaster prevention and relief. Incidents on such a large scale are required to have unparalleled levels of coordination between Federal, State, local, tribal, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations. ICS provides management so such incidents can be properly handled.

The ICS is designed to be:

* Effective in operations in a single jurisdiction or agency or multiagency involvement;
* Accepted by all of its users across the country;
* Easily updated with new improvements in technology;
* Adaptable to any type of emergency;
* Flexible to organize itself to any structure based on the seriousness of the emergency situation.

Multiagency Coordination Systems:
This subsystem in NIMS involves mutual-aid agreements and assistance arrangements between all organizations at the Federal, State, local, tribal, and regional levels. It also defines the operating characteristics, interactive management, and organization of entities involved in disaster response and relief.

The definition of a multiagency coordination system is a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications provided with the responsibility to coordinate a plan of action and support for a domestic incident through adequate management and proper use of command. Incident command, an integral area in the coordination systems is responsible for direct tactical integration and operations.

Multiagency Coordination Systems with the National Incident Management System may contain EOCs (which stands for emergency operations center). This is generally referred to as the physical location in which coordination of information, management of resources, and similar activities take place.

EOCs may be run and commanded by several leaders from many different jurisdictions and functional disciplines. If there was a bioterrorism incident, a local EOC may be established consisting of several members of law enforcement, emergency management, medical response teams, public health experts, etc. EOCs can serve either for permanent purposes or for temporary incident-specific purposes. Also, the size of the EOC, including the number of employees and amount of resources depends on the size of the jurisdiction from which it was established.

Multiagency coordination entities may be established for cross disciplinary purposes during complex incident management situations. These help facilitate incident management and coordination. The primary functions of multiagency coordination entities include the following:

* Ensuring that correct situational awareness and status information is given by each agency tasked with responding to a disaster scenario;
* The ordering of priorities between incidents and/or Area Commands;
* Acquiring resources and allocating them in the most optimal possible manner required by incident management personnel;
* Predicting and identifying needs for resources in the near future depending on the situation circumstances;
* Resolving any issues or problems that may arise during operations;
* Giving strategic coordination as needed.

Public Information Systems:
During an incident or disaster, information systems established in the event of an emergency will pass valuable communication to the public. This information is vital to help save lives.

During an emergency situation, the general public receives information from a variety of available sources. The Joint Information Center (JIC) is a system that ensures that all information is timely, accurate, easily understandable, and consistent with all other sources of information. The JIC in the NIMS system contains representatives from each agency involved in an emergency situation. JICs are also established in different levels of the government in complex situations requiring a great deal of medical and public health resources.

Multiagency entities are also responsible for the management of JICs, including the means by which public communications are cleared and handled. All agencies that contribute to the general database of knowledge of a specific situationare identified individually.

A joint information system (JIS) provides an overall organized, integrated, and properly coordinated means to deliver accurate, easy-to-understand, timely, and consistent information to the public in a time of crisis. The JIS uses plans, procedures, and functional structures to deliver this important information. The JIS is designed to be flexible and easily adaptable; to support management with key information for making decisions, and have the resources to develop timely messages.

Preparedness:
Without preparation, incidents cannot be approached with an effective response nor would the resources be available to help provide aid and disaster relief. Preparation activities in the NIMS system are conducted on a “steady-state” basis, well before a disaster even occurs. Preparation is an integrated combination of planning, training, exercises, proper and equipment standards. When improving preparedness programs within the NIMS guidelines, management officials should take advantage of and leverage pre-existing preparation programs in the best way possible.

Preparedness in NIMS requires a never-ending cycle of planning, training, exercise simulation, and equipment checking.

Planning:
Plans are essentially created in the NIMS system as a system of setting priorities, integrating a variety of functions for each person or thing involved in a system, and an integrated support spectrum.

Training:
Involves education, including coursework for procedures and protocols, multiagency command and communication, incident management, and organizational structure.

Exercises:
Exercises include the use of simulations that are realistic enough so that personnel will be knowledgeable of what to expect if a disaster does occur. This includes multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional exercises that attempt to coordinate the efforts of all individuals who would aid in every aspect of an emergency situation. The exercises improve integration, interoperability, and optimize coordination efforts and utilization.

Equipment Standards:
Emergency response agencies, on both the management and field levels always rely on equipment to carry out important tasks in an emergency situation. Preparedness involves the readily available equipment that meet general standards for optimal use and effectiveness. They are sometimes designed to be interoperable with similar equipment used by other jurisdictions.

In order for preparedness in the NIMS to be useful, all aspects in preparation efforts should be unified in their approach. This includes interoperability across jurisdictional boundaries and between public and private organizations.

Mitigation procedures are important in the preparation process for a number of critical reasons. It covers all levels of the incident management system process during a crisis, from preventing a crisis to the recovery. Examples of mitigation include:

* Public education that is designed to reduce the loss of life in the event of a crisis;
* Obtaining flood insurance for properties that are prone to floods.

What does it take to reach a proper level of preparation? The National Incident Management System is designed to help all organizations and the general public by providing the necessary tools and knowledge to do so.

Preparedness Organizations:
A jurisdiction has authority over the organizations and the activities they practice within a certain region. They are responsible for coordinating their efforts to ensure an adequate level of preparedness. Preparedness organizations is the term used to describe committees, planning groups and other groups that meet at regular intervals to engage in discussions about proper planning, training, equipping, and other elements of preparation across the jurisdiction.

Preparedness Programs:
Preparedness programs are designed to give a step by step process by which preparation can be achieved under National Incident Management System guidelines. They contain mechanisms for establishing priorities in a time-sensitive emergency situation, integrating proper functions, coordinating with other parties, and ensuring that means of communication are readily available for giving and receiving vital information.

An emergency operations plan (EOP) is a program for preparedness that outlines all the activities that are vital in an incident for a particular jurisdiction. It is necessary for an EOP to describe organizational structures, responsibilities for each person within that organization, policies for running the organization, and protocols for that organization to provide support to those who need it.

Resource Management:
NIMS provide a system of inventory management and allocation, dispatch, track, recording, and recovering over the entire duration of an incident. Resources can include personnel, teams, facilities, equipment, and supplies, such as food and medical items. In general, resource management coordination and all of the activities that go along with it occur within EOCs.

There are four primary tasks in resource management that are vital in an NIMS effort:

* Creating a system of describing, recording, requesting, and keeping tabs on resources;
* Implementing this system in the event of a disaster;
* Providing resources to those who need it during an incident;
* Recalling resources during an incident.

The National Incident Management System ensures that the protocol involved with resource management is a universal structure used by all organizations in all jurisdictions. This ensures that resources move quickly and efficiently and properly assist emergency responders and emergency management teams.

Communications and Information Management:
The NIMS system was designed with the need for a standard communication network in mind so that information management and sharing can be more useful and conducted properly.

Communications During an Incident:
NIMS provides an organized system of communication for effective communication processes, procedures, and systems across all agencies, regardless of location or jurisdiction.

Information Management:
The management in the NIMS system is important for processes, procedures, and systems so that information flows throughout agencies in various locations and jurisdictions, both quickly and efficiently. This enhances incident management and minimizes response time.

Supporting Technologies:
The National Incident Management System constantly updates with technological advances for implementation and refinement of all aspects of NIMS systems. This includes voice and communication system technology, information storing, retrieval and management systems, and display systems. Technologies can also facilitate continuing operations during the event of an incident, especially those that require specific and unique technological capabilities.

The main concern is that all technologies used in all jurisdictions in the event of a crisis are compatible with each other and do not interfere with one another neither. Standards for technological use to ensure compatibility and interoperability are reached by tools similar to achieving communication standards– in that all digital data formats should be universally used, along with equipment and design standards.

Continued Management and Maintenance:
This aspect of the NIMS system refers to the direction the incident management system takes in the future, including system checks to meet standards of effectiveness and reliability. Also, consistent refinement of the NIMS and its components over the course of many years.

The preparedness organizations assist communications and informational management teams so that they provide effective services and support the complete structure of incident management activities. They do this through the following guidelines:

Individual Jurisdictions:
Each jurisdiction system of information and communication is developed by using interoperable standards established by the NIMS structure.

Incident Communications (IC):
ICs manage communicatimons in the event of an incident, using a communications plan and a communications center specifically designed to be used in an emergency situation. The NIMS structure ensures that all ICs use common terminology when using communications.

Department of Homeland Security

The Department of Homeland Security published the National Incident Management System (NIMS) on March 1st, 2004. The main goal of the NIMS structure was to provide a universal incident command guideline so that all organizations, both public, private, or governmental can cooperate with each other across various jurisdictions, including Federal, State, local, and tribal, in the event of a disaster or crisis. Disasters included as possible reasons for implementing the NIMS guidelines are natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, and terrorist attacks, no matter how big or complex they are.

The biggest tool for promoting the nationwide implementation of NIMS and its incident command structure is through a NIMS training program that helps train management and emergency responders across the nation for using NIMS protocol. Proficiency in the NIMS training program is largely based on qualifications of personnel and the ability to develop core competencies within the NIMS training program.

The National Integration Center (NIC):
The National Integration Center is responsible for the implementation of NIMS incident command training programs, including core competencies, training courses, and personnel qualification evaluations. The NIC and its training program is designed with the general notion that properly trained and qualified individuals in emergency management, incident command, and response are vital to not only the NIMS structure, but the safety of the nation during an emergency situation.

The Goal of NIC:
NIC has implemented a five year NIMS training program to create and maintain properly trained and qualified personnel for incident command and emergency management and response. The National Training Program for NIMS has three underlying objectives:

* The spread of NIMS education and training for all emergency management and response personnel;
* Help personnel adapt the capabilities defined by NIMS training into guidelines and courses that train personnel to develop desired capabilities;
* Develop a minimum set of specifications that personnel are required to have for service in complex incidents that may transcend several jurisdictions within a given region.

The Five Year NIMS Training Plan has several objectives:

1. Establishment of goals and objectives to guide the NIC as it implements the National Training Program.
2. Give proper planning and documentation to guide training plans, budgets, and schedules.
3. Establish a core curriculum for NIMS training and incident command and the guidelines for each of the NIMS courses in the core curriculum.
4. Provide universal guidelines for emergency management and response qualifications based on the development of core competencies of individuals within the NIMS training program.

The core curriculum for the NIMS training plan contains courses found to be critical to ensure that personnel are trained properly and are capable of emergency management, incident command and response. Some of these courses include (in order from beginner to advanced):

* National Incident Management System (NIMS) Introduction
* Introduction to the Incident Command System
* Intermediate ICS
* Advanced ICS
* NIMS Resource Management
* NIMS Preparedness
* All-Hazards Finance Section Chief
* All-Hazards Public Information Officer

The Two Main Goals of the NIMS Training Plan are:

* To provide guidance and support so that all personnel can be properly trained in all aspects of NIMS;
* Provide maintenance to the plan and update it as needed.

NIMS Board

The National Incident Management System is a set of guidelines outlined by the Department of Homeland Security for use in the event of an emergency. It provides a universal incident protocol for all organizations, whether public or private so that they can cooperate with each other across various jurisdictions effectively and efficiently. To promote the importance of the NIMS structure for emergency management and response, the five year NIMS training program has been established to train all emergency personnel to manage, respond to, and prevent emergency situations.

What is the National Integration Center (NIC)?

The NIC is tasked with implementing NIMS training programs for emergency personnel learning to perform under the NIMS guidelines. The NIC ensures that the training program properly qualifies individuals in emergency management and response to coordinate their efforts in handling an emergency situation, no matter how big or complex the situation is. The NIC does this by implementing a five year NIMS training program to reach three underlying goals:

* The spread of NIMS education and training for all emergency management and response;
* Help personnel adapt to the capabilities defined by NIMS training;
* Develop a minimum set of specifications that personnel are required to obtain before being used for service in emergency situations.

The training program involves a core curriculum of courses to be completed to properly train personnel under NIMS guidelines. Two important courses in the NIMS training program outlined in this article are NIMS 100 and NIMS 700, two vital courses in the training program curriculum.

NIMS 100:
When an emergency response or management official participates in the NIMS Training Plan, he or she is required to take NIMS 100, an essential course for learning the basics of the NIMS structure if he or she has the following responsibilities:

First-line Supervisor (Sergeant/Lieutenant), Mid-level management (Captain/Shift Commander) and command (Battalion Chief/Division Chief/District Commander/PIO) and general staff (Operations/Planning/Logistics/Finance-Admin).

The NIMS 100 course is a course that is designed to be taken online. However, if necessary, the course materials can be downloaded from the internet and used in a group or classroom setting. Answer sheets can then be obtained from the EMI Independent Study Office or ordered online.

The NIMS 100 course and training may be given by Federal, State, tribal, and local agencies. This can include private vendors as well, however for the course to be valid it must include the following topics of disscussion:

* What is the purpose of ICS? Identification of the requirements of ICS, three purposes of ICS and common tasks involved in an incident;
* What are the basic features of ICS and descriptions of each;
* Incident Commander and Command Staff Functions;
* General Staff Functions;
* Facilities: Basic ICS facilities;
* Common Responsibilities.

NIMS 700:
Another important NIMS course is NIMS 700, also called Awareness Training. The personnel who are required to take NIMS 700 are people who have a direct role in emergency preparedness, incident management or response. This course was designed to be a awareness level course taken on the internet that disscusses NIMS components, concepts, and principles. The course may be also taken in a group setting if all the materials are downloaded from the internet.

Who must take NIMS 700?

* Executive Level: Political and government leaders; organizational administrators;
* Managerial Level: Division/Group Supervisors, Unit Leaders, technical specilists;
* Responder Level: Emergency response workers and disaster workers (including firefighters, medical personnel, police officers, etc.)