NIMS Essay

NIMS, National Incident Management System, is the national standardized approach to incident management that is equally appropriate for all jurisdictional levels including local, state, and federal, and is functional for all hazards. This system mainly started to develop after the incident of 9/11. The basis for the development of NIMS was the document called HSPD-7 which established a broad range of specific responsibilities for the DHS. There are five main components of NIMS; it includes preparedness, communications and information management, resource management, command and management, and ongoing management and maintenance. ICS, Incident Command System, is incorporated into NIMS as a cornerstone of domestic incident management. Some of the management characteristics of the ICS include common terminology, a modular organization structure, management by objectives, integrated communications, and unity of command. Single command is used when an incident is occurred within a single jurisdiction. On the other hand, UC, Unified Command, is used when the incidents involve multiple jurisdictions and agencies and the agencies’ responsibilities overlap. Command Staffs work for either single or unified command. The three main Command Staff positions consist of Public Information Officer, Safety Officer, and Liaison …show more content…
Because the system is extremely broad and, there are so many sections sharing the responsibilities and relying on each other, they should be able to easily cover each other when one department is in emergency. However, it is all possible only when they have a good communication. The weakness of this system might be that if the section that is responsible for communication with other sections is broken, this huge system would have a big trouble in communication which can lead the whole system into a