National Incident Management System

The National Incident Management System NIMS provides a systematic, proactive approach to guide departments and agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work seamlessly to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity, in order to reduce the loss of life and property and harm to the environment. NIMS works hand in hand with the National Response Framework NRFADA475884. NIMS provides the template for the management of incidents, while the NRF provides the structure and mechanisms for national-level policy for incident management. Originally issued on March 1, 2004, by the Department of Homeland Security DHS, 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 of NIMS.