Since the publication of the third version of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) in 2017, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has received stakeholder feedback indicating that some organizations may be facing challenges with implementing the resource management component of NIMS, particularly the typing, inventorying, and tracking of response assets.
NIMS Resource Management guidance enables many organizational elements to collaborate and coordinate to systematically manage resources—personnel, teams, facilities, equipment, and supplies. Many jurisdictions and organizations do not own and maintain all the resources necessary to address all potential threats and hazards. Therefore, effective resource management includes leveraging each organization’s resources, engaging private sector resources, involving volunteer organizations, and encouraging further development of mutual aid agreements.
On Oct. 3, FEMA’s National Integration Center released the 2023 NIMS Resource Management Survey. The survey offers jurisdictions an opportunity to recommend enhancements for NIMS programming. This includes the National Qualification System (NQS), resource typing, mutual aid, emergency operations center (EOC) skillsets and tools, and more.
The survey is hosted on FEMA’s Preparedness Toolkit website, which is also where FEMA’s NIMS doctrine, guidance, and tools are housed. In the first page of the survey, FEMA lists its tools and guidance documents that specifically support the resource management component of NIMS. To access and review this suite of guidance and tools, see the links provided in the survey, or visit the Resource Management section of the Preparedness Toolkit website.
The survey will remain open until FEMA collects 1000 responses. To participate, please visit https://preptoolkit.fema.gov/web/nims-toolkit/nims-survey.
Questions can be directed to the NIMS Inbox at [email protected]. If you previously completed the survey in response to an earlier request for feedback, please contact the NIMS Inbox to ensure your submission has been captured.
