The National Incident Management System (NIMS) guides all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and the private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from incidents. NIMS was published in March of 2004, updated in December of 2008, and updated again in October of 2017.

1. NIMS 3.0
NIMS Is...
Essential principles for communications and information
management
A set of concepts and principles for all threats, hazards,
and events across all mission areas (Prevention, Protection,
Mitigation, Response, Recovery)
A comprehensive, nationwide systematic approach to incident
management, including the command and coordination of inci-
dents, resource management, and information management
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
NIMS Is Not...
Only the ICS
Only applicable to certain emergency/incident response personnel
A resource-ordering system
Used only during large-scale incidents
A response plan
A static system
A communications plan
2004 20172008
Pages: 149 Pages: 168 Pages: 131
Sections: 7 Sections: 6 Sections: 4
Chapter I: Introduction & Overview
Chapter II: Command & Management
Chapter III: Preparedness
Chapter IV: Resource Management
Chapter VI: Supporting Technologies
Chapter V: Communications &
Information Management
Chapter VII: Ongoing Management &
Maintenance
•••••••••••••: Introduction & Overview
Component I: Preparedness
Component II: Communications &
Information Management
Component III: Resource Management
Component IV: Command & Management
Component V: Ongoing Management &
Maintenance
I. Fundamentals & Concepts of NIMS
II: Resource Management
III: Command & Coordination
IV: Communications &
Information Management
1.0 2.0 3.0
Defined
“A systematic, proactive approach to
guide all levels of government, NGOs, and
the private sector to work together to
prevent, protect against, mitigate,
respond to, and recover from the effects
of incidents. NIMS provides stakeholders
across the whole community with the
shared vocabulary, systems, and pro-
cesses to successfully deliver the capabil-
ities described in the National Prepared-
ness System. NIMS provides a consistent
foundation for dealing with all incidents,
ranging from daily occurrences to inci-
dents requiring a coordinated Federal
response.”
Defined
“A set of principles that provides a
systematic, proactive approach guiding
government agencies at all levels, nongov-
ernmental organizations, and the private
sector to work seamlessly to prevent, pro-
tect against, respond to, recover from, and
mitigate the effects of incidents, regard-
less of cause, size, location, or complexity,
in order to reduce the loss of life or proper-
ty and harm to the environment.
Defined
“A system mandated by HSPD-5 that
provides a consistent nationwide approach
for Federal, State, local, and tribal govern-
ments; the private sector, and nongovern-
mental organizations to work effectively
and efficiently together to prepare for,
respond to, and recover from domestic
incidents, regardless of cause, size or com-
plexity. To provide for interoperability and
compatibility among Federal, State, local
and tribal capabilities, NIMS includes a core
set of concepts, principles, and terminolo-
gy...
The life of
NIMS
Core Principles
Flexibility
Standardization
Core Principles
Flexibility
Standardization
Core Principles
Flexibility
Standardization
Unity of Effort
Functional Groups
Term used in different context
Functional Groups
Incident Command System (ICS)
Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
Joint Information System (JIS)
Functional Groups
Incident Command System (ICS)
Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
Joint Information System (JIS)
Multiagency Coordination Group
1.0
2001
2004
September
march
2.0
2008 2005
December August
updated