The 2001 terrorist attacks and the increasingly violent hurricane seasons highlight the need to focus on improving emergency response capabilities and coordination processes across the country. To address the issue, in 2003, President Bush signed Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, which mandates the use of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) for all organizations responding to an emergency. The new system is based on California’s Incident Command System, a communications strategy established in the aftermath of devastating wildfires in the 1970s.

NIMS is a comprehensive national approach that sets standards to provide a consistent incident management approach for government and private entities at all levels. Its framework forms the basis for interoperability and compatibility that enables a diverse set of public and private organizations to conduct well-integrated and effective emergency response operations.

NIMS establishes management structures, organizational processes, terminology, mobilization protocols, and communications compatibility requirements. Its intent is to improve the effectiveness of all emergency management and response personnel involved with a pre-planned or actual emergency, including natural hazards, terrorist activities, and other manmade disasters.

Mutual-aid agreements are an important part of the NIMS structure. Emergencies typically begin and end locally, and are managed on a daily basis at the lowest possible geographical, organizational, and jurisdictional level. However, there are instances in which successful emergency management operations depend on the involvement of multiple jurisdictions, levels of government, emergency responder disciplines, and outside agencies. These occurrences require effective and efficient coordination. NIMS establishes the standards that must be adhered to by each responding entity.

ESIS developed the Coordinated NIMS Incident Planner to help emergency managers comply with the Federal Government’s requirment to adopt the NIMS structure, which many view as cumbersome and challenging to implement. CNIP is a user-friendly software program that creates Incident Action Plans, a NIMS requirement. Also, CNIP combines local, state, and federal levels with independent response organizations to create a coordinated multiple-agency plan that can be managed through a server from which all emergency managers participating in an event (pre-planned or actual) can operate.