NIMS

National Incident Management System(NIMS)



National Incident Management System(NIMS)

As an emergency director in San Fransisco in a privately owned critical infrastructure which is a key asset that can be an easy target of a possible terrorist attack I will present a plan to work with private and public stakeholders to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a potential terrorist attack on the facility. My plan will include the elements of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). In order to prevent my infrastructure from such an attack I have propared myself with a plan. Currently most incidents are generally handled on a daily basis by a single jurisdiction at the local level, there are important instances in which successful domestic incident management operations depend on the involvement of multiple jurisdictions, functional agencies, and emergency responder disciplines. These instances require effective and efficient coordination across this broad spectrum of organizations and activities. Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, much has been done to improve prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation capabilities and coordination processes across the country. A comprehensive national approach to incident management, applicable at all jurisdictional levels and across functional disciplines, would:

Further improve the effectiveness of emergency response providers and incident management organizations across a full spectrum of potential incidents and hazard scenarios.

Also improve coordination and cooperation between public and private entities in a variety of domestic incident management activities.

I think NIMS integrates existing best practices into a consistent, nationwide approach to domestic incident management that is applicable at all jurisdictional levels and across functional disciplines in an all-hazards context. On February 28, 2003, President Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5. HSPD-5 directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and administer a National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents.

Six major components make up this systems approach. Each is addressed in a separate NIMS Basic document.( Robert, 2006)

Of these components, the concepts and practices for Command and Management and Preparedness are the most fully developed, reflecting their regular use by many jurisdictional levels and agencies responsible for incident management across the country.

It is true that exercises comprise the last element of preparedness. Many preparedness organizations, such as Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) and either local or state EMAs, already plan and conduct all-hazard exercises that incorporate NIMS. Utilities should reach out to these preparedness organizations and take part in the exercises they conduct. This will ensure that a utility's ERP is coordinated with other local emergency plans. In addition, this participation allows utility staff to take part in professionally facilitated exercises with minimal utility resource expenditure. It also allows utility personnel to develop working relationships with other local first

responders before an emergency occurs. There are far more potential attack scenarios than likely ones, and far more than could be meaningfully addressed with limited counter-terrorism resources.

Infact communications and information management is another

component of NIMS that should ...