Importance Of NIMS

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Importance of National Incident Management System
The formation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) was mandated by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Nicholas, Howitt & Giles, 2017). Its creation came as a consequence of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The NIMS is a standard method and strategy set to be used in the management of any emergency response operation across all the government levels regardless of the kind of incident, its complexity or magnitude. The Incident Command System: the critical component of the NIMS, provides a consistent system of managing incidents (Nicholas, Howitt & Giles, 2017). Every state government has used executive orders or any other policy mechanism to adopt this system of the emergency …show more content…

This methodology ensures that all first and second responders are on par with their level of preparedness when it comes to responding to emergency incidents. The training provided for by the NIMS also works progressively in reducing the causality rates when it comes to response operations. Keeping calm and letting best practices and logic prevail are some of the critical responses to incidents. The system is also involved in the education of the public on the best ways to react to a terrorist incident to prevent chaos and confusion during such …show more content…

Most of the agencies that reacted to the terrorist attack effectively utilized the core NIMS principles in the treatment of the victims who were severely wounded and to develop a manhunt for the bombers across the city. The response was adequate and quick due to the existence of a unified command structure among the emergency medical, law enforcement and other organizations (Leonard et al., 2016). The organizations’ unified command structure oversaw the response and allowed for delegation of responsibilities among different agencies without complexities.
Therefore, the creation of the NIMS has provided for a system that brings together agencies for an effective and quick response to terrorist attacks including the mass shootings in October 2015 at the Umpqua Community College in Oregon (Leonard et al., 2016). Comparing the kind of response exhibited during the 9/11 terrorist attacks by emergency agencies before the creation of the NIMS and the responses portrayed by the same organizations after the creation of the NIMS shows how capable this system

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