FW: DHS Announces Revised National Incident Management System

[Guest guest]

From www.yahoogroups.com/group/NJFirefighters

Please try these other groups if the subject matter interests you:

www.yahoogroups.com/group/911Lifeline

www.yahoogroups.com/group.911console

www.yahoogroups.com/group/Firepics

www.yahoogroups.com/group/FirematicEvents

DHS Announces Revised National Incident Management System

Release Date: December 18, 2008

Release Number: HQ-08-259

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today released a revised _National

Incident Management System (NIMS)_ (http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/) - the

national standard for incident management. NIMS establishes standardized

incident management processes, protocols, and procedures that all federal,

state,

tribal and local responders will use to coordinate and conduct response

actions.

NIMS expands on the original version released in March 2004 by clarifying

existing NIMS concepts, better incorporating preparedness and planning and

improving the overall readability of the document. The revised document also

differentiates between the purposes of NIMS and the National Response Framework

(NRF) by identifying how NIMS provides the action template for the management

of incidents, while the NRF provides the policy structure and mechanisms for

national-level policy for incident management.

" The National Incident Management System has been the single most significant

improvement in incident management since the Department of Homeland Security

was formed in 2003, " FEMA Administrator ison said. " It has

enhanced interoperability among emergency responders at all levels of

government and

is the product of a collaborative effort involving hundreds of emergency

personnel from across the nation. We incorporated lessons learned from

Hurricane Katrina, clarified incident command system concepts, increased

emphasis on

planning and mutual aid, expanded the intelligence/investigation function,

and better aligned the NIMS document with the National Response Framework, "

said ison.

With the oversight of FEMA, the newly released NIMS followed an extensive

revision involving over 100 partners from all levels of government, private

sector, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and subject matter experts

representing a broad spectrum of emergency management and incident response

disciplines. Throughout three official nationwide comment periods, FEMA

reviewed

nearly 6,000 comments from more than 280 individuals and organizations,

including

extensive review and recommendations made by the National Advisory Council

(NAC).

The basic tenets of NIMS remain the same. There have been several

improvements to the revised NIMS document which will aid in readability and

usefulness

of preparing, preventing, and responding to incidents. For example, the

revised document places greater emphasis on the role of preparedness and has

reorganized its components to mirror the progression of an incident.

Recognizing

the importance of private sector partners and NGOs in incident response,

FEMA has ensured that those entities have been more fully integrated throughout

NIMS. The new document is consistent with the NRF, and together they provide

a single, comprehensive approach to incident management.

Further information on preparedness programs is available at www.dhs.gov and

_www.fema.gov_ (http://www.fema.gov/) .

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing,

mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic

disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

**************Don't be the last to know - click here for the latest news that

will have people talking. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000021)

[