The Office of Homeland Security (OHS) was created eleven days after the events of September 11, 2001 with the purpose to oversee and coordinate a national strategy to protect the United States against terrorism and act as a responder to any future attacks. In November 2002, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002 which resulted in the largest government reorganization in the history of the US with- the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Some of the functions DHS focuses on includes border security, transportation security, cyber security, critical infrastructure, and emergency management with a primary focus on preventing terrorist attacks. The idea behind DHS was to bring 22 different agencies under one roof to
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First published in 2004, NIMS incorporated best practices into a national approach that would be applicable to everyone. The goal of this plan is to reduce the loss of life, property and harm to the environment. What NIMS provided initially was a core set of doctrine, principles, terminology, and organizational processes to enable disaster management at all levels (FEMA). Perhaps the most important concept that came from NIMS was the Incident Command System (ICS). The ICS addresses the question of who is in charge during an incident and where everyone needs to be. There are five major management systems addressed by ICS: command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance. Command encompasses developing, directing, and maintaining communication and collaboration with multiple agencies on site. Operations handles the tactical portions, coordination with command objectives, and organizes and directs all resources. Planning provides the information required to develop the plan of action and evaluates information as it is collected. Logistics provides personnel, equipment, and support. Finally, finance is responsible for handing all financial resources during and after the incident and monitors all costs (Bullock, Haddow, & Coppola, 2015). Depending on the severity of the incident and the jurisdiction where the incident happens, NIMS and the ICS are effective ways to establish command and control and get people where they need to be, but it can get extremely complicated if multiple federal and local agencies are involved. When people train together for severe incidents, it is like a rehearsal in which everyone knows their part, who to talk to, and what to do. But in reality, it may not always be that
First published in 2004, NIMS incorporated best practices into a national approach that would be applicable to everyone. The goal of this plan is to reduce the loss of life, property and harm to the environment. What NIMS provided initially was a core set of doctrine, principles, terminology, and organizational processes to enable disaster management at all levels (FEMA). Perhaps the most important concept that came from NIMS was the Incident Command System (ICS). The ICS addresses the question of who is in charge during an incident and where everyone needs to be. There are five major management systems addressed by ICS: command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance. Command encompasses developing, directing, and maintaining communication and collaboration with multiple agencies on site. Operations handles the tactical portions, coordination with command objectives, and organizes and directs all resources. Planning provides the information required to develop the plan of action and evaluates information as it is collected. Logistics provides personnel, equipment, and support. Finally, finance is responsible for handing all financial resources during and after the incident and monitors all costs (Bullock, Haddow, & Coppola, 2015). Depending on the severity of the incident and the jurisdiction where the incident happens, NIMS and the ICS are effective ways to establish command and control and get people where they need to be, but it can get extremely complicated if multiple federal and local agencies are involved. When people train together for severe incidents, it is like a rehearsal in which everyone knows their part, who to talk to, and what to do. But in reality, it may not always be that