NIMS Fundamentals and Resource Mgt.

Question 1

What type of incidents does NIMS apply to?

Answer 1

All incidents, from Traffic accidents to major disasters

Question 2

NIMS provides who with the shared vocabulary, systems, and processes to successfully deliver the capabilities described in the National Preparedness System.

Answer 2

stakeholders across the whole community

Question 3

NIMS guides what 3 entities to work together to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from incidents.

Answer 3

• all levels of government
• nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and
• the private sector

Question 4

Three components represent a building-block approach to incident management. Applying the guidance for all three components is vital to successful NIMS implementation. What are they?

Answer 4

• Resource Management
• Command and Coordination
• Communications and Information Management

Question 5

What is Whole Community mean?

Answer 5

is a focus on enabling the participation in incident management activities of a wider range of players from the:

• private and nonprofit sectors, including NGOs
• the general public
• with the participation of all levels of government

Question 6

The range of situations in which NIMS can be used includes?

Answer 6

all incidents, regardless of size, complexity, or scope, and planned events (e.g., sporting events).

Question 7

NIMS is applicable to all stakeholders with incident management and support responsibilities. The audience for NIMS includes:

Answer 7

• emergency responders and other emergency management personnel,
• NGOs (e.g., faith-based and community-based groups),
• the private sector, and
• elected and appointed officials responsible for making decisions regarding incidents.

Question 8

NIMS is a set of concepts and principles for all threats, hazards, and events across all mission areas. What are the 5 mission areas?

Answer 8

Prevention
Protection
Mitigation
Response,
Recovery

Question 9

NIMS is not

Answer 9

• Only the ICS
• Only applicable to certain emergency or incident response personnel
• A static system
• A response plan
• Used only during large scale incidents
• A resource ordering system
• A communications plan

Question 10

NIMS Guiding Principles are?

Answer 10

Flexibility—scalable

Standardization—-interoperability/common language

Unity of Effort—coordinating activities to achieve common objectives

Question 11

Area Command is?

Answer 11

When very complex incidents, or multiple concurrent smaller incidents, require the establishment of multiple ICS organizations, an Area Command can be established to oversee their management and prioritize scarce resources among the incidents.

Question 12

The Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) is an entity that

Answer 12

can create and administer processes to qualify, certify, and credential personnel for incident-related positions.

AHJs include state, tribal, or Federal government departments and agencies, training commissions, NGOs, or companies, as well as local organizations such as police, fire, public health, or public works departments.

Question 13

Emergency Operations Center is?

Answer 13

An EOC is a facility from which staff provide information management, resource allocation and tracking, and/or advanced planning support to personnel on scene or at other EOCs (e.g., a state center supporting a local center).

Question 14

Multiagency Coordination Group are sometimes called policy groups, characteristics of which are?

Answer 14

•	Provide policy guidance and resources 
•	Offsite….Floats over the incident
•	Never in Incident command
•       Enable decision making among elected and 
         appointed officials

Question 15

Resource management preparedness involves:

Answer 15

identifying and typing resources;

qualifying, certifying, and credentialing personnel;

planning for resources; and

acquiring, storing, and inventorying resources.

Question 16

What is resource typing?

Answer 16

is defining and categorizing incident resources by capability. Resource typing definitions establish a common language for discussing resources by defining minimum capabilities for personnel, teams, facilities, equipment, and supplies. Resource typing enables communities to plan for, request, and have confidence that the resources they receive have the capabilities they requested.

Question 17

When identifying which resources to type at the national level, FEMA selects resources that can be identified by the following 4 characteristics of resources:

Answer 17

‒ Capability: The core capability for which the resource is most useful;

‒ Category: The function for which a resource would be most useful (e.g., firefighting, law
enforcement, health and medical)

‒ Kind: A broad characterization, such as personnel, teams, facilities, equipment and
supplies; and

–Type: A resource’s level of minimum capability to perform its function;

Question 18

As defined in the National Preparedness Goal, these are essential elements for the execution of the five
mission areas: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery.

Answer 18

Core capabilities

Question 19

A resources level of capability is based on?

Answer 19

size, power, and capacity (for equipment) or experience and qualifications (for personnel or teams)

Type 1 is highest capability ;

Question 20

What is Type?

Answer 20

A resource’s level of minimum capability to perform its FUNCTION.

Are sufficiently interoperable or compatible to allow for deployment through common systems for resource ordering, managing, and tracking.

Question 21

What is Kind?

Answer 21

A broad characterization, such as personnel, teams, facilities, equipment and supplies;

Question 22

What is Category?

Answer 22

The function for which a resource would be most useful (e.g., firefighting, law enforcement, health and medical)

Question 23

What is capability?

Answer 23

The core capability for which the resource is most useful;

Question 24

Led by the AHJ, these are the 3 essential steps that help ensure that personnel deploying through mutual aid agreements have the knowledge, experience, training, and capability to perform the duties of their assigned roles.

Answer 24

Qualifying, certifying, and credentialing

Question 25

What is Qualification

Answer 25

is the process through which personnel meet the minimum established criteria—training, experience, physical and medical fitness, and capability—to fill specific positions.

Question 26

Certification/Recertification

Answer 26

is the recognition from the AHJ or a third party stating that an individual has met and continues to meet established criteria and is qualified for a specific
position.

Question 27

Credentialing

Answer 27

occurs when an AHJ or third party provides documentation—typically an
identification card or badge—that identifies personnel and authenticates and verifies their qualification for a particular position.

it is separate from an incident-specific badging process

Question 28

The position task book (PTB) is a basic tool that underpins the NIMS performance-based qualification process. PTBs describe the?

Answer 28

minimum competencies, behaviors, and tasks necessary to be qualified for a position. PTBs provide the basis for a qualification, certification, and credentialing process that is standard nationwide.

Question 29

Who administers the qualifying and credentialing process?

Answer 29

FEMA recommends minimum qualifications, but it is AHJs across the Nation that establish,
communicate, and administer the qualification and credentialing process for individuals seeking
qualification for positions under that AHJ’s purview.

Question 30

Jurisdictions and organizations work together before incidents occur to develop plans for identifying, managing, estimating, allocating, ordering, deploying, and demobilizing resources. Resource management strategies that planners should consider regarding resources include these 4:

Answer 30

• Stockpiling resources;
• Establishing mutual aid agreements to obtain resources from neighboring jurisdictions;
• Determining how and where to reassign existing resources from non-essential tasks; and/or
• Developing contracts to acquire resources from vendors rapidly when needed.

Question 31

What is key to resource planning?

Answer 31

Estimating resource needs is key to resource planning.

Question 32

Effective resource management involves establishing what?

Answer 32

Establishing a resource inventory and maintaining the currency and accuracy of the information.

While a resource inventory can be as simple as a paper spreadsheet, many resource managers use information technology (IT)-based inventory systems

Question 33

Resource Inventorying vs. Resource Tracking

Answer 33

Resource inventorying refers to the preparedness activity done outside of incident response. Inventories often provide the basis for resource tracking during an incident.

Resource tracking occurs during an incident and includes the number and status of resources assigned to an incident, the organizational element to which they are assigned, and their progress against applicable work/rest ratios.

Incident needs drive the numbers and types of resources tracked.

Question 34

Home Location is what?

Answer 34

The resource’s permanent storage location, base, or office. This should also include the home location’s associated latitude/longitude and United States National Grid coordinates to ensure interoperability with mapping and decision support tools.

Question 35

Resource inventories also account for (and mitigate) the potential for double-counting personnel and/or equipment. What should Resource summaries do?

Answer 35

clearly reflect any overlap of personnel, supplies,

and/or equipment across different resource pools to avoid overstating the total resources.

Question 36

The Incident Commander relies on the resource management process and personnel in the ICS and EOC organizations to identify and meet resource needs. The six primary tasks of resource management during an incident are?

Answer 36

1. Identify requirements
2. Order and Acquire
3. Mobilize
4. Track and Report
5. Demobilize
6. Reimburse and Restock

Question 37

What happens in Identifying Requirements?

Answer 37

During an incident, personnel continually identify, validate, and refine resource needs. This process involves identifying the type and quantity of resources needed, the location where resources should be sent, and who will receive and use the resources.

Question 38

Resource availability and needs constantly change as an incident evolves. Consequently, incident management personnel and their affiliated organizations should

Answer 38

coordinate as closely and as early as possible, both in advance of and during incidents.

Question 39

During the Ordering and Acquiring task,

Answer 39

Both incident and EOC staff make initial and ongoing assessments of resource requirements and either activate or request those resources. Incident personnel can order additional resources by executing contracts, implementing mutual aid agreements, or requesting assistance from another
level of government

Question 40

When personnel reach their designated incident worksite, they should adhere to accountability procedures, including these 4:

Answer 40

• Check-In: Report in to receive an assignment. (Applies to all personnel regardless of agency affiliation)
• Recordkeeping: Follow incident procedures for documenting their activities.
• Communication: Observe radio and/or telephone procedures; use plain language and clear text, not codes.
• Checkout: When notified of their demobilization, follow the local checkout procedures before leaving the incident area.

Question 41

What should happen during the checkout process?

Answer 41

-Personnel should complete all work in progress (unless otherwise directed);
-ensure all records and files are up to date;
-return or transfer any equipment received in support of the incident
-brief incoming personnel, if applicable, on
work status and assignments.

Question 42

Self-dispatching or self-deploying, may interfere with incident management and place an extra logistical and management burden on an already stressed system by:

Answer 42

• Creating additional supervisory, logistical, and safety needs;
• Depleting the resources needed to provide continued services to their home community;
• Complicating resource tracking and accountability; and/or
• Interfering with the access of formally requested resources.

Question 43

The mobilization process includes?

Answer 43

• Conducting incident-specific deployment planning;
• Equipping;
• Providing just-in-time training;
• Designating assembly points; and
• Delivering resources to the incident on schedule and
in line with priorities and budgets.

Question 44

What resources involve activation rather than deployment?

Answer 44

Mobilizing fixed facility resources, such as laboratories, hospitals, EOCs, shelters, and waste management system

Question 45

Managers plan and prepare for the demobilization process when?

Answer 45

at the same time they begin mobilizing resources.

Question 46

Resource tracking occurs when?

Answer 46

it occurs prior to, during, and after an incident

Question 47

The goal of demobilization is?

Answer 47

the orderly, safe, and efficient return of a resource to its original location and status.

Once resources are no longer needed on an incident, those responsible for resources should demobilize them or reassign rather than demobilize it.

Prior to demobilization, incident staff responsible for the planning and logistics functions collaborate to plan how resources are rehabilitated, replenished, disposed of, and/or returned or restored to operational condition.

Question 48

What occurs during reimbursement?

Answer 48

Processes include mechanisms for collecting bills, validating costs against the scope of the work, replacing or repairing damaged equipment, and accessing reimbursement programs.

Reimbursement procedures are often specified in mutual aid and assistance agreements.

Question 49

Mutual aid involves sharing resources and services between jurisdictions or organizations. What is EMAC?

Answer 49

Emergency Management Assistance Compact is a congressionally ratified mutual aid compact that defines a non-Federal, state-to-state system
for sharing resources across state lines during an emergency or disaster.

Question 50

These mutual aid agreements often address participating entities’ liability, compensation, and procedures, and might include some of the following topics:

Answer 50

• Reimbursement: Mutual aid services are either paid or unpaid (e.g., based on providing reciprocal services). Some mutual aid agreements specify reimbursement parameters.
• Recognition of Licensure and Certification: Guidelines to ensure recognition of licensures across geopolitical boundaries.
• Procedures for Mobilization (Request, Dispatch, and Response): Specific procedures for parties to request and dispatch resources through mutual aid.
• Protocols for Voice and Data Interoperability:
• Protocols for Resource Management: Standard templates for packaging resources based on NIMS resource typing definitions and/or local inventory systems.

Question 51

What NIMS is…….

Answer 51

• A comprehensive, nationwide, systematic approach to incident management, including the command and coordination of incidents, resource management, and information management
• A set of concepts and principles for all threats, hazards, and events across all mission areas (Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, Recovery)
• Scalable, flexible, and adaptable; used for all incidents, from day-to-day to large-scale
• Standard resource management procedures that enable coordination among different jurisdictions or organizations
• Essential principles for communications and information management

Question 52

When identifying which resources to type at the national level, FEMA selects resources that:

Answer 52

• Are widely used and sharable;
• Can be shared and/or deployed across jurisdictional boundaries through mutual aid agreements or compacts;
• Can be identified by the following characteristics—Capability, Category, Kind, and Type
• Can be identified, inventoried, and tracked to determine availability;
• Are used for incident management, support, and/or coordination under ICS and/or in EOCs; and
• Are sufficiently interoperable or compatible to allow for deployment through common systems for resource ordering, managing, and tracking.

Question 53

The NIMS qualification, certification, and credentialing process uses a performance-based approach. This process enables communities to

Answer 53

plan for, request, and have confidence in personnel assigned from other organizations through mutual aid agreements.

Question 54

Estimating resource needs is key to resource planning. Through capability estimation, jurisdictions assess their ability to take a course of action. The resulting capability estimate feeds into the resource section of the plan or annex. Capability estimation helps answer the following questions:

Answer 54

§ What do we need to prepare for?
§ What resources do we have that allow us to achieve our targets?
§ What resources can we obtain through mutual aid to be prepared to meet our targets?

Question 55

For activities that need surge capacity, planning often includes pre-positioning resources. Plans should anticipate conditions or circumstances that trigger a reaction, such as

Answer 55

restocking supplies when inventories reach a predetermined minimum.

Question 56

Effective resource management involves

Answer 56

establishing a resource inventory and maintaining the currency and accuracy of the information.

Question 57

Deployment Information: Information needed to request a resource includes:

Answer 57

‒ Minimum Lead Time (in hours): The minimum amount of time a resource needs to prepare for deployment to the incident.
‒ Maximum Deployment Time (in days): The maximum amount of time a resource can be deployed or involved before it needs to be pulled back for maintenance, recovery, or resupply.
‒ Restrictions: Any restrictions placed on the resource use, deployable area, capabilities, etc.
‒ Reimbursement Process: Any information regarding repayment for items that are reimbursable.
‒ Release and Return Instructions: Any information regarding the release and return of the resource.
‒ Sustainability Needs: Any information regarding actions necessary to maintain the usability of the resource.
‒ Custom Attributes: A customizable field that an agency can add to resource records. This can contain any necessary information that standard fields do not contain.

Question 58

What is status?

Answer 58

The resource’s current condition or readiness state.

Question 59

Using NIMS resource names and types helps ensure that
requests are clearly communicated and understood. Requesting organizations should include the following information in the request:

Answer 59

• Detailed item description including quantity, kind, and type, if known, or a description of required capability and/or intended use if not known;

‒ If suitable substitute resources or preferred sources exist, these should also be indicated;
‒ If the resource is not a common or standard incident resource, then the requestor should provide detailed specifications;

Question 60

Upon notification of deployment, individuals should:

Answer 60

• Review the most recent SITUATION REPORT (if available);
• Identify assignment, deployment location, and travel arrangements;
• Identify assigned supervisor and associated contact information, if possible;
• Obtain a copy of assignment paperwork;
• Review any briefings on worksite security or access procedures and any special environmental or health concerns for the deployment area (if available); and
• Ensure/verify coverage for DAY to DAY job responsibilities.

Question 61

Resource tracking directly links to the mobilization process. Resources arriving on scene check in according to

Answer 61

the receiving organization’s check-in process.

Question 62

Personnel and other resources begin mobilizing when notified by the requesting jurisdiction or by an intermediary acting on its behalf, such as the state Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) coordinator. At the time of notification, deploying personnel should be notified regarding:

Answer 62

• The date, time, and place of departure;
• Mode of transportation to the incident;
• Estimated date and time of arrival;
• Reporting location (address, position title, and phone number or radio frequency);
• Anticipated incident assignment;
• Anticipated duration of deployment;
• Resource order number;
• Incident number; and
• Applicable cost and funding codes.

Question 63

Before emergency responders can mobilize and arrive, neighbors and bystanders are often the first people to provide life-saving assistance. The natural desire to help does not disappear once responders arrive on the scene. Incident management personnel should

Answer 63

anticipate this and have plans to use these volunteers’ capabilities safely and effectively.

Question 64

Information management systems enhance resource status information flow by providing real-time data to jurisdictions, incident personnel, and their affiliated organizations. Information management systems used to support resource management include

Answer 64

location-enabled situational awareness and decision support tools with resource tracking that links to the entity’s resource inventory(s).