National Incident Management System (NIMS)

Welcome to the Ohio Fire Academy National Incident Management System (NIMS) links.

The Ohio Fire Academy has received numerous requests from fire departments throughout the State seeking guidance on implementing the recently announced National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS is a policy document with related procedure documents that complete the total system. You will find a guidance document that has been developed with an example of an Incident Command standard operating procedure if you are not now using an Incident Command System.

NIMS requires not only fire departments, but all functional disciplines (law enforcement, EMS, elected and appointed officials) within emergency response to comply to this national approach to incident management. NIMS is a comprehensive incident response system, developed by The Department of Homeland Security at the request of the President of the United States. The Secretary of Homeland Security has further established the NIMS Integration Center to provide "strategic direction for and oversight of the National Incident Management System". In the near future, the NIMS Integration Center (NIC) will oversee all aspects of the NIMS, including the development of NIMS-related standards and guidelines and the provision of guidance and support to incident management and responder organizations as they implement the system.

The documents you can access here will give all emergency response agencies the required course of action in order to comply with the initial stages of NIMS necessary at this time. Other aspects of NIMS require additional development and refinement to enable compliance at a future date. The NIMS Integration Center will release compliance guidelines as they become effective. The Ohio Fire Academy will work with the NIMS Integration Center to make sure your organization is aware of changes and updates so you can take the necessary steps to comply with future requirements.