Important: All emergency personnel, hospital workers and public utilities; it is very important that you satisfy the NIMS requirements set out by the federal government and Presidential Directive - 5. You can click the link to EMI Learning Center and register to take IS 100, IS 200, IS 700 and IS 800. If you have any questions contact your department training officer,EMA Director Ken Weidner or EMA Deputy Director Johnny Roberson. Look around this page for more information about NIMS or go to NIMS Online.com
What is the National Incident Management System?
NIMS is a comprehensive, national approach to incident management that is applicable at all jurisdictional levels and across functional disciplines. The intent of NIMS is to:
• Be applicable across a full spectrum of potential incidents and hazard scenarios, regardless of size or complexity.
• Improve coordination and cooperation between public and private entities in a variety of domestic incident management activities.
NIMS Compliance
HSPD-5 requires Federal departments and agencies to make the
adoption of NIMS by State and local organizations a condition for
Federal preparedness assistance (grants, contracts, and other
activities) by FY 2005.
Jurisdictions can comply in the short term by adopting the
Incident Command System. Other aspects of NIMS require
additional development and refinement to enable compliance at a future date.
Why Do We Need a National Incident System?
Emergencies occur every day somewhere in the United States. These emergencies are large and small and range from fires to hazardous materials incidents to natural and technological disasters.
Each incident requires a response. Whether from different departments within the same jurisdiction, from mutual aid partners, or from State and Federal agencies, responders need to be able to work together, communicate with each other, and depend on each other.
Until now, there have been no standards for domestic incident response that reach across all levels of government and all emergency response agencies. The events of September 11 have underscored the need for and importance of national standards for incident operations, incident communications, personnel qualifications, resource management, and information management and supporting technology.
To provide standards for domestic incident response, President Bush signed Homeland Security Presidential Directive –5. HSPD-5 authorized the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop the National Incident Management System, or NIMS. NIMS provides for interoperability and compatibility among all responders.
NIMS Concepts and Principles
NIMS provides a framework for interoperability and compatibility by balancing flexibility and standardization.
• NIMS provides a flexible framework that facilitates government and private entities at all levels working together to manage domestic incidents. This flexibility applies to all phases of incident management, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity.
• NIMS provides a set of standardized organizational structures, as well as requirements for processes, procedures, and systems designed to improve interoperability.
NIMS 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. These components include:
• Command and management.
• Preparedness.
• Resource management.
• Communications and information management.
• Supporting technologies.
• Ongoing management and maintenance.
For more info go to FEMA's Website for NIMS.