Emergency Incident Management Systems. Louis N. Molino, Sr.
domestic incident management was not the federal government's responsibility.
This Presidential Directive clearly authorized the Secretary of Homeland Security as the responsible party for coordinating with federal agencies. Those agencies under the umbrella of DHS were required to integrate and coordinate with state, local, and tribal entities when directed by the DHS. Beyond that, the Secretary of Homeland Security was ordered to integrate and coordinate with private and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Essentially, the new DHS Director was mandated to work toward coordinating everyone together so that when it was needed, there was a more unified response. By doing so, they would help to ensure that there was the ability to provide seamless support to a multitude of incidents, including a massive coordinated response to a terrorist attack.
In undertaking these coordination efforts with these various organizations and entities, the Secretary was also charged with guaranteeing suitable planning, adequate equipment, acceptable training, and continued and ongoing drills and exercise activities. The Secretary was under mandate and required to provide assistance in developing an all‐hazards plan as specified in HSPD‐8.
This all‐hazard plan was originally called the National Response Plan (NRP), however, it did not take long for the NRP to morph and transform into the National Response Framework (NRF). The underlying factor that helped to drive the NRF was the mandate to ensure that federal, state, local, private, and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) were organized, integrated, and that they met core capabilities. This was especially important (and difficult) because it included integrating those with varying specialties in disaster and emergency management. Those specialties usually related to mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. While this was a tall order, most realized that if the end result was accomplished, the United States would have better and more in‐depth safeguards for the security and safety of the nation.
From the creation of the National Response Framework came a new term and a new concept that would change the way agencies planned. The use of all‐hazards planning was a unique and new way of addressing potential threats to a community. Some agencies were not impressed with the term, and in some cases, the concept itself. As was often the case in public safety, some agency administrators began complaining about all‐hazards planning before they even knew what it was, or how it would affect them or their agency. In some instances, these agencies operated on assumptions. Some agency administrators unwittingly assumed that they were expected to plan and prepare for every conceivable type of emergency, but in reality, all‐hazards planning was based on two core beliefs.
The first core belief is that a risk analysis should be undertaken to identify potential hazards that a community may face. This means that the planning would be based on the unique risks inherent to the geographical location they served. A formal risk analysis would be performed to identify the unique locational priorities and resources that were needed to be effective. Without a risk analysis, and a risk‐driven plan, the agency was essentially guessing what would be their biggest risks, or they are planning for everything and hoping for nothing. Either way, without using risk‐driven planning, the agency put their citizens unnecessarily at risk.
The second core belief was that by undertaking a risk analysis, the agency could know the potential risks, and could develop the capacity to deal with these unique hazards through practical planning. What most did not immediately understand was that many of the same tools needed for the most prevalent risks, could also be integrated into the least prevalent risks. This was based on the assumption that a multitude of core jobs associated with the highest risks would also be useful in planning for lower risk disasters.
The same methods used for warning, evacuating, and sheltering for one type of incident would usually be effective in other incidents, no matter what type of incident it was. This would then assist them in creating a baseline capability that not only could be effective with known and expected risks but also could be modified easily modified to deal with the unexpected incident or disaster. This type of planning would lead to greater resiliency for the local government. As these core concepts were put to the test, it would be found that they did increase preparedness, and they helped to better manage catastrophic incidents.
Some may wonder how the National Response Framework (NRF) factors into incident management. When we preplan what resources are available, what services they can provide, and how they can be quickly and efficiently activated, we reduce the time frame of receiving the needed resources. Ask yourself this, which is quicker, identifying what is needed and requesting it, or identifying what is needed, assigning someone to find the said resource, negotiating the logistics involved (including cost), and arranging for transportation to the incident. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that the act of just requesting the resource is substantially quicker, and agreements are already arranged. Later in this book, we will discuss the Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) role in requesting resources.
1.12 The NIMS Mandate
In order to make NIMS work, every agency that might be involved in almost any incident would need to work together, and they all needed to be on the same page. It did not matter what phase of the incident these responders were in (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery), or if the incident was transitioning from one phase to another. What did matter was the seamless integration of all resources. NIMS accomplished this task. NIMS incorporates Non‐Governmental Organizations (NGO's), local governments, state government, and the federal government into a unified response.
NIMS was mandated for every federal agency except one. The only federal agency that was exempt was the Department of Defense (DOD). While the DOD was exempt from following NIMS, the Secretary of Defense was specifically tasked with creating a companion method that would seamlessly integrate a military response into a domestic incident. This would ensure that in instances where military support was needed, they could seamlessly integrate with the other agencies who utilized NIMS and the ICS Component of NIMS.
After being given their marching orders, the DHS and the DOD each created the plan that President Bush requested. A lot of time and thought was put into the program, and eventually a finished product was ready. There was however a problem, how would they get every agency who responded to incidents to begin using NIMS? This was complicated by the fact that it involved stakeholders across a myriad of funding types and who had differing organizational structures.
After the federal governments' mandate to implement NIMS (in March 2004), it became apparent that some local agencies, especially fire departments and police agencies, were not so keen to integrate the NIMS method into their local jurisdictional response. A multitude of reasons were given as to why they were resistant to this change. The most prevalent issue appeared to be a misunderstanding of what NIMS was, and how the method could work in their favor. While this was the concern of some stakeholders, other stakeholders were upset because they had been using a different type or method of IMS. As is often the case, most that were not happy with the new method were resistant to change, no matter what that change was. Many smaller agencies also had their naysayers, and a common phrase that was heard from the old‐timers who said “We ain't never done it that way before!” They were essentially saying that they did not see a reason to change, and they did not want, nor like, this change.
Had the federal government not insisted on mandating everyone to use NIMS, then the lack of total acceptance would have likely led to a hodgepodge of methods and more confusion during a response. This would most likely result in a lack of coordinated integration of resources, thereby making the response less effective. Because of the problems that could be caused by not adopting NIMS, the federal government decided they needed to find a way to entice organizations to willingly accept and operate under the NIMS Method.
Multiple methods were used to entice agencies to embrace the NIMS concepts and to become NIMS compliant. Perhaps the most effective was requiring any agency that provided emergency response (or supported emergency response), and who received government funding were required to become NIMS compliant in order to continue to receive federal funds (FEMA, 2004a; 2015a; 2008). Essentially, it was the concept of the “Golden Rule”: he who has the gold makes the rules.
The ability