National Incident Management System

As stated earlier, the 9/11 attacks revealed the indomitable spirit of the US and awakened a sleeping giant, which was very reminiscent of the US response following the attacks by the Japanese on US forces in Hawaii. Both 9/11 and Pearl Harbor attacks galvanized the American people into action and caused the government to heavily invest resources to combat enemies of the US; the Axis enemies during World War II and “the terrorists”, wherever they may be located, following 9/11. One of the first NIST deficiencies to be corrected were the operational protocols for intra- and inter-agency communication. This, in part, has been addressed in the Incident Command System (ICS) since the purpose of ICS is to integrate operations between public safety entities at all levels of government.

After September 11, 2001, the Department of Homeland of Security was formed in response to the terrorist attacks. Out of the birth of the agencies formed, the National Incident Management System (NIMS) was created to allow clear allocation of resources and a systematic approach to emergency management. The system can be effective in many responses where many levels of government and response are imminent to respond to the disaster. Many of these agencies are emergency management, police, fire, health, and EMS from all levels of government. NIMS can be used on any type of incident and of any size or scope in nature.

Risk: A risk is the chance, high or low, that any hazard will actually cause somebody harm. (the likelihood of it happening).

The President of the United States of America issued the Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5 on February 28th, 2003 for managing Domestic incidents like terrorist attacks. The HSPD-5 helped create the National Incident Management System (NIMS), (Homeland Security, 2004). The use of the Incident Management System and Incident Command System can help manage the response to an attack involving Weapons of Mass Destruction among many other emergencies. These systems allow for coordination to be used in a proper and efficient manner. Without a system in place communication and coordination can fall apart and the response will not be prompt as it needs to be to protect lives and infrastructure.

This paper will explain an overview perspective of the September 11th attacks, as well as examine the response of local emergency personnel to this incident. I will discuss the lack of coordination amongst emergency personnel, and also analyze the connection between this event and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). This paper will also reveal the challenges faced due to interoperability and the ways in which improvements were made and improvements many believe still need to be made.

The National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), is the system that police use to report crime data. The data includes; the nature or type of the specific offense, the characteristics of victims and offender, the type and value of property stolen and/ or recovered, and characteristics of persons arrested with crime incidents. Incident-based data provides a large amount of criminal information. This is organized in complex, it reflects the different aspects of a crime incident.

“The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) represents a redesign of the FBI’s summary crime reporting system, the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.”(Levitt, 1998). It is an incident-based reporting system in which agencies collect qualitative and quantitative data on each single crime that is committed and arrest that is made. Data that is reported to the NIBRS can come from various sources such as local, state, and federal automated records systems. It was established in late 1970s due to a large part of law enforcement agencies continuing to express growing dissatisfaction with the narrow scope of information detailed in the UCR.

After the horrific attacks on September 11th, 2001, The United States had a new mission at hand. They needed to repair their procedures of responding to natural disasters or massive attacks. They needed to create a system that would ensure that everyone, from local law enforcement to the top guy in the federal government, were in sync and on the same page for training purposes and during actual national incidents. The American government did a review of the 2001 attacks and discussed what caused the issue, what steps or procedures were carried out, and what could have been done in order to correct any faults that might of taken place. One of the main issues discovered, was all the different agencies, departments, and private sectors

The overwhelming extent of disruption and destruction at all levels of emergency management, and all levels of government particularly during the preparedness and response phases, made Hurricane Katrina a catastrophe. Prior to the 2005 hurricane, the National Response System underwent restructuring which produced both intended and unintended outcomes, which later on, became apparent during the response to Hurricane Katrina. In addition, the National Incident Management System structure implied, but did not define, an information flow that would ensure a common situational awareness at all levels of the distributed decision network. As a result, this lead to a communication breakdown between the federal, state, and local government and prevented

These three living documents work hand-in-hand, continuously evolving to improve consistency and account for changing conditions. The National Preparedness Goal, as of 2011, sets the vision and overall policy for nationwide preparedness. The National Incident Management System provides the template for managing incidents at all levels, while the National Response Framework gives structure to national-level incident management and response policy. (pg. 2)

What is the National Response Framework? The National Response Framework is a guide to how the Nation conducts all-hazards response – from the smallest incident to the largest catastrophe. This key document establishes a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The Framework identifies the key response principles, roles and structures that organize national response. It describes how communities, States, the Federal Government and private-sector and nongovernmental partners apply these principles for a coordinated, effective national response. And, it describes special circumstances where the Federal Government exercises a larger role, including incidents where Federal interests are involved and catastrophic

It is also designed as a standard, cooperate tool used for managing incidents. “The concepts contained herein provide for a flexible but standardized set of incident management practices with emphasis on common principles, a consistent approach to operational structures and supporting mechanisms, and an integrated approach to resource management” (Department of Homeland Security, 2015). The NIMS has several functions that work in collaboration to provide the necessary tools for response efforts. These functions include: NIMS Doctrine Supporting Guides and Tools; Training; Resource Management and Mutual Aid; Implementation Guidance and Reporting; NIMS Alerts; FEMA NIMS Regional Contacts; and Incident Command System Resources. These functions work together to produce the Department of Homeland Security’s effective emergency response strategy.

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) was established by the federal government in 2004 after the inappropriate response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11s showed that reorganization was needed for dealing with disaster matters (FEMA, n. d.). Thus, NIMS provides a unique template for all levels of government, the NGOs, and the private to work together in order to reduce the loss of life, damage to properties by preparing for, responding to, mitigating , and recovering from any disaster (FEMA, n. d.). According to Lindell, Prater, and Perry, NIMS is dynamic and applies to planned events as no-notice events and forecasted events (2007). For FEMA (n. d.), NIMS components are adaptable to any situation, from routine events to those requiring

Today, the Incident Command System (ICS) is a major component of NIMS and is widely used in emergency management response. However, this was not always the case. According to David A. McEntire and Gregg Dawson, authors of the article, “The intergovernmental Context,” ICS was originally developed by the fire service in 1970. Its purpose was to assist in the command of wildfire events. It was unique because it standardized operations, yet offered flexibility so that it could be used on any number of events, regardless of size or type (McEntire & Dawson, 2007, p. 63).

Defined by Coopers textbook, risk is the exposure to the consequences of uncertainty and has two elements: the likelihood of something happening that has an impact on the project objectives, and the positive or negative consequences of something impacting the project objectives (Cooper, Grey, Raymond, & Walker, 2005)