REVISED NIMS issued 12-18-08

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Originally published on March 1, 2004, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security initiated the revision of the document in 2007-2008 to reflect contributions from stakeholders and lessons learned during recent incidents. Released on December 18, 2008, this document represents a collaborative intergovernmental partnership with significant input from the incident management functional disciplines, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.

The NIMS 2008 Rollout package includes the following five documents:

1. NIMS Document;

2. Press Release;

3. What’s New in the NIMS Document;

4. Fact Sheet; and

5. Frequently Asked Questions.

Each of these NIMS documents and related information can be found on the new NIMS Resource Center website: www.fema.gov/emergency/nims

Note: Though not required, DHS/FEMA strongly encourages personnel to take the revised IS-700 course, which reflects all concepts and principles contained in the new NIMS. For online NIMS training, visit www.training.fema.gov/index.asp.

Dear NIMS Stakeholders:

Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5, Management ofDomestic Incidents, directed the development and administration of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Originally issued on March 1, 2004, by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable Federal, State, tribal, and 10cal2governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity.

HSPD-5 also required DHS to establish a mechanism for ongoing coordination to provide strategic direction for, and oversight of, NIMS. The National Integration Center's (NIC) Incident Management Systems Integration Division (lMSI)-formerly the NIMS Integration Center-was established to support both routine maintenance and the continuous refinement of NIMS.

Since 2006, the NIMS document has been revised to incorporate best practices and lessons learned from recent incidents. The NIMS revision also clarifies concepts and principles, and refines processes and terminology throughout the document. A wide range of feedback was incorporated while maintaining the core concepts ofNIMS and no major policy changes were made to the document during the revision. Below is a summary of changes to the NIMS document:

• Eliminated redundancy;

• Reorganized document to emphasize that NIMS is more than the Incident Command System (ICS);

• Clarified ICS concepts;

• Increased emphasis on planning and added guidance on mutual aid;

• Clarified roles of private sector, NGOs, and chief elected and appointed officials;

• Expanded the Intelligence/Investigation function; and

• Highlighted relationship between NIMS and National Response Framework.

I ask for your continued assistance as we implement NIMS. I look forward to continuing our collective efforts to better secure the homeland and protect our citizens. Thank you for your hard work in this important endeavor.

Sincerely,

Michael Chertoff

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) released in December 2008 supersedes the March 2004 version of NIMS. The basic purpose, scope and principles of the document remain unchanged. The majority of changes impact the organization and readability of the document while ensuring that it adequately reflects the importance of preparedness.

NIMSWhatsNew.pdf

NIMS Resource Center online