Discussion Post

Lesson 1: Fundamentals and Concepts of NIMS We’ll now begin with the content of the first lesson. This lesson presents key concepts and principles underlying NIMS.

Objectives: At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Describe applicability and scope of NIMS.

• Describe the key concepts and principles underlying NIMS.

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NIMS Overview WHAT? The National Incident Management System (NIMS) defines the comprehensive approach guiding…

WHO? …the whole community - solutions that serve the entire community are implemented while simultaneously making sure that the resources the different members of the community bring to the table are leveraged across all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and private sector organizations to work together seamlessly

WHY? …to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the effects of incidents.

WHEN? NIMS applies to all incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity, from planned events to traffic accidents and to major disasters.

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NIMS Applicability and Scope NIMS is a common framework for emergency management and incident response that is applicable to all stakeholders with incident related responsibilities.

The audience for NIMS includes:

• Emergency responders

• Other incident personnel

• Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as faith-based and community-based groups

• The private sector

• Elected and appointed officials

• People with disabilities or access and functional needs

The scope of NIMS includes:

• All incidents, regardless of size, complexity, or scope

• Planned events such as sporting events

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Overview of NIMS The National Incident Management System (NIMS) defines the comprehensive approach guiding the whole community - all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and the private sector - to work together seamlessly to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the effects of incidents.

NIMS Is NIMS Is Not

• A comprehensive, nationwide, systematic approach to incident management, including the command and coordination of incidents, resource management, and information management

• Only the Incident Command System

• Only applicable to certain emergency/incident response personnel

• A static system

• A set of concepts and principles for all threats, hazards, and events across all mission areas (Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, Recovery)

• A response plan

• Scalable, flexible, and adaptable; used for all incidents, from day-to-day to large-scale

• Used only during large-scale incidents

• Standard resource management procedures that enable coordination among different jurisdictions or organizations

• A resource ordering system

• Essential principles for communications and information management

• A communications plan

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NIMS Guiding Principles Incident management is the application of resources by organizations to plan for, respond to, and recover from an incident.

Priorities for incident management in planning, response, and recovery efforts include saving lives, stabilizing the incident, and protecting property and the environment.

To achieve these priorities, incident management personnel use NIMS components in accordance with three NIMS guiding principles:

• Flexibility

• Standardization

• Unity of Effort

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Flexibility The NIMS guiding principle of flexibility allows NIMS to be scalable from routine, local incidents through those requiring interstate mutual aid up to those requiring Federal assistance.

Flexibility enables NIMS to be applicable to incidents that vary widely in terms of hazard, geography, demographics, climate, cultural, and organizational authorities.

NIMS components are adaptable to any type of event or incident.

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Standardization The NIMS guiding principle of standardization supports interoperability among multiple organizations in incident response.

NIMS defines standard organizational structures that improve integration and connectivity among organizations.

NIMS defines standard practices that allow incident personnel and organizations to work together effectively.

NIMS includes common terminology, which enables effective communication.

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Unity of Effort The NIMS guiding principle of Unity of Effort means coordinating activities among various organizational representatives to achieve common objectives. Unity of effort enables organizations with jurisdictional authority or functional responsibilities to support each other while allowing each participating agency to maintain its own authority and accountability.

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NIMS Framework - Major Components Jurisdictions and organizations involved in the management of incidents vary in their authorities, management structures, communication capabilities and protocols, and many other factors. The major Components of NIMS provide a common framework to integrate these diverse capabilities and achieve common goals.

• Resource Management

• Command and Coordination

• Communications and Information Management

The application of all three components is vital to successful NIMS implementation.

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Lesson 1: Fundamentals and Concepts of NIMS Summary This lesson presented an overview of the Fundamentals and Concepts of NIMS.

The lesson specifically discussed:

• An Introduction and Background to NIMS

• NIMS Applicability and Scope

• NIMS Guiding Principles

• An Overview of the NIMS components

The next lesson will introduce you to NIMS Resource Management.

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