The Importance of NIMS to
Campus Emergency Response
By Mark Fazzini, M.S.
T
oo often, evil acts seem
to occur anywhere in
society. Recently, some
of the most shocking incidents
have taken place on the grounds
of highly esteemed colleges and
universities, institutions that
exist to better society. These
occurrences have helped highlight the need for authorities to
have effective countermeasures
in place to address threats to
campus safety.
Understanding the importance of the National Incident
Management System (NIMS)
to colleges and universities
14 / FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
© Rich Malec
requires a recognition of what
it means to emergency response capabilities. NIMS was
developed in March 2004 by
the Department of Homeland
Security to provide a systematic, proactive approach for
government agencies at all
levels, nongovernment 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—to reduce the loss
of life, destruction of property,
and harm to the environment. It
gives campuses a much-needed
method of protection.
UNDERSTANDING NIMS
What It Offers
A recent report funded
through the Illinois Criminal
Justice Authority examined the
relationship between local law
enforcement and postsecondary
institutions in Illinois and across
the nation.1 One of its key findings revealed that many campuses have experienced critical
incidents of some sort within
the past 5 years. Considering
this fact, along with the importance of NIMS to the effective
and efficient planning for or
response to an emergency incident, every college and university should become compliant.
Institutions also can reap
important financial benefits.
Responding to and recovering
from an emergency can cost a
considerable amount of money.
Only organizations that have
implemented NIMS can recoup
any portion of such expenses
from the federal government.
Additionally, NIMS offers a
predefined, yet flexible, organizational structure that can be
altered, as necessary, to ensure
maximum effectiveness during
small operations or complex
responses and extended in scope
if an incident grows in size.
NIMS can adapt according to
geographical boundaries, operational function, or a combination of both.
How It Works
NIMS allocates responsibilities among four main areas—
planning, operations, logistics
and administration, and finance.
Each has its own assigned
primary and secondary functions that then can break down
further into branches, divisions,
groups, task forces, or strike
teams. An incident commander
is necessary in any operation,
but the positions in each of the
four realms of responsibility are
staffed only if the event dictates
the need.
The establishment of uniform titles, with accompanying
responsibilities, allows for an
easy-to-understand command
structure. This practice helps
emergency responders from
diverse communities work
together effectively and efficiently under a single banner
of operations. For instance, two
officers from fire departments
at opposite ends of a state could
understand the responsibilities
of a planning section chief.
NIMS-compliant agencies
working together all gain an
understanding of and share
common terminology and
acronyms to effectively communicate and accomplish
objectives. Also standardized,
the typing, or sufficiently
defining, of resources ensures
that emergency managers
request the right equipment,
supplies, and other provisions
for a particular purpose. For
example, a section chief may
need a tanker. Some personnel
instinctively may think of an
airplane tanker and others a fire
truck tanker. Standardized
typing of equipment eliminates
any potential confusion.
NIMS also employs standard forms to document different aspects of a response. Each
department shares these same
familiar forms. Documentation of all activities records
important information, such as
resources deployed, safety
precautions taken, media messages written, and equipment
ordered, pertaining to the response to an incident, as well
as the necessary justification
“
…NIMS offers a
predefined, yet
flexible, organizational
structure that can be
altered, as necessary,
to ensure maximum
effectiveness….
”
Chief Fazzini heads the College of DuPage
Police Department in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
September 2009 / 15
© Rich Malec
EOC in operation during May 2008 Tri-City Team’s full-scale exercise
for requesting reimbursement
of expenses from the federal
government. And, if necessary,
it helps in the defense of any
lawsuits that potentially can
result from a response effort.
BECOMING COMPLIANT
Institutions interested in implementing NIMS must follow
the five steps that constitute the
“continuum for compliance.” To
this end, a college or university
must have its governing board
initiate the institution’s work
within the NIMS structure, train
personnel toward the effort, establish an all-hazard emergency
operations plan, test the campus’ efforts, and implement a
continual review of the system.
Accepting the System
The governing board or
authority has to adopt NIMS for
all departments and agencies. It
16 / FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
can accomplish this by passing
a resolution and incorporating
NIMS compliance into school
policies and procedures. The
institution’s contract specifications also may include compliance language where appropriate. Additionally, the authority
should encourage the school’s
nongovernment associates to
pursue compliance.
Training All Personnel
Next, staff members must
undergo NIMS training, which
consists of various incident
command system (ICS) classes,
the level of which depends on
the nature of the involvement
they will have during a crisis
response. Currently, six basic
ICS classes exist that various
members of the campus need
to take. Personnel can complete
several courses, ICS-100:
Introduction to the Incident
Command System; ICS-200:
ICS for Single Resources and
Initial Action Incidents; IS-700:
National Incident Management
System (NIMS), an Introduction; and IS-800: National
Response Plan (NRF), an
Introduction, independently
through the Internet. They must
take ICS-300: Intermediate ICS
and ICS-400: Advanced ICS in
a classroom setting. These two
classes provide the fundamentals of using the standard forms,
and students work through
several scenarios to familiarize
themselves on how the entire
NIMS system works.
Individuals who will make
major decisions during an
emergency and who may act,
perhaps, as an incident commander or section chief need to
complete all six basic classes.
Personnel who will serve as
support for the highest level of
decision making should take at
least the 100, 200, 700, and 800
courses. All administrators and
supervisors should gain a familiarity with the NIMS system by
completing classes 100 and 700.
Some members of the incident
management team also may
want to take other specialized
courses; for instance, the public
information officer may want to
complete IS-702: NIMS Public
Information.
As a way to reduce costs,
institutions may wish to have
designated staff members attend
train-the-trainer classes. This
will give the agency its own
in-house instructors to teach
additional personnel while having less impact on the budget.
Further, staff then could receive
training on-site, rather than taking time off to attend courses
away from the campus. Not
only would training time be
reduced but institutions could
eliminate transportation costs
to other locations.
Developing a Plan
The campus must implement an all-hazard emergency
operations plan that works hand
in hand with the NIMS system.
To develop the plan, the institution should form a committee
with membership from all constituents, including police and
fire personnel. For additional
assistance, authorities can refer
to the Internet, where many
colleges have their plans available, for examples and consult
with county or state emergency
management officials. After
finalizing the plan, the committee must distribute it to all
campus administrators, area
police and fire departments, and
the local emergency management office.
Testing the Plan
Also important, the institution—along with such community partners as local police,
fire, and other agencies—tests
the plan. Including the other
constituents helps ensure their
knowledge of the plan and,
thus, the effectiveness of a critical incident response should a
real situation occur. Involved
campus entities should consist
of members of the incident
management team (IMT) and,
perhaps, IMT alternates, public
relations staff, counselors, and
other campus leaders.
Different methods of testing
exist. Tabletop exercises often
are the most preferred. In these,
participants, including the IMT,
formulate a response to given
scenarios. The sessions last
from a few hours to all day, depending on the amount of time
allocated for training.
A functional exercise can
test a particular component of
the emergency operations plan.
For instance, phones and radios
could be used to test the communication system established
for an emergency command
center (EOC). Personnel can set
up these systems beforehand to
eliminate the time needed to do
so during the test. These exercises typically take longer than
a tabletop event and may involve the deployment of human
and other resources.
Another way to evaluate
the effectiveness of emergency
plans is to conduct a full-scale
exercise. This would involve the
NIMS Continuum of Compliance
Governing
Board
Acceptance
Testing
Plan
Continual Review
Develop
Plan
Training
September 2009 / 17
mobilization of more staff and
resources than the other methods. For these events, personnel should set up staging areas
and have staff help evaluate
response times. Such exercises,
or mock drills, take more time
to run through than other tests;
they also cost more because
they involve the most staff. To
reduce expenses, institutions
can hold the exercise during
regular work hours, rather than
paying employees overtime.
Campuses wisely will use
multiple methods to ensure their
plans are current and functional.
Testing of emergency response
plans must occur to know
whether or not they will work.
Over time, procedures and
resources will change. Only by
conducting exercises and mock
drills can institutions make sure
their plans stay current.
College Of DuPage’s
Exercises
Deciding to collaborate with
other community partners to improve its response capabilities,
the College of DuPage joined
with three neighboring villages—Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, and
Winfield—to form the Tri-City
Crisis Response Group, initially
developed to operate a medical
distribution site at the campus
in the event of a terrorist incident. Now, the group exists to
respond to incidents that threaten to overwhelm the resources
of any one of the participating
communities. To further this
effort, the college outfitted a
computer laboratory with 30
© Rich Malec
College of DuPage local Emergency Operations Center in the college
board room
18 / FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
phone lines, Internet access, and
cable television to function as
an EOC for the group. In the
event of an activation, personnel move a storage box loaded
with phones, signs, manuals,
and maps into the EOC. The
group regularly meets and trains
together. It dramatically has
increased the response capability of any one of the individual
partners.
During 2008, the College of
DuPage planned or participated
in four exercises testing emergency plans in place. In February, it took part in a functional
exercise with the DuPage
County Homeland Security
Office. In May, the college,
along with the Tri-City Crisis
Response Group, conducted a
full-scale exercise to test the
command structure of the
group. In July, because of its
status as one of the county’s
medical distribution sites in the
event of a terrorist act, the
College of DuPage participated
in a mock drill using over 200
individuals to test medical
distribution capabilities on-site.
In August, it worked with a
local high school to test the
college’s ability to evacuate all
of the high school students and
staff to one of its buildings.
Monitoring the Process
Constant monitoring and
review represents the final and
ongoing component of the
NIMS compliance continuum.
Training, plan development, and
testing comprise a continual
process. At a minimum, institutions should review and test the
plan annually. The emergency
operations plan is a living
document needing regular
attention. Many details, including phone numbers, building
layouts, and personnel changes,
need updating at least annually.
CONCLUSION
Unfortunately, unthinkable
events can happen anywhere,
even on the campuses of institutions of higher learning. Considering this threat, along with
the benefits NIMS offers, every
A Comprehensive Source of Information About NIMS
http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/
responses, large or small. It can
help campus authorities plan for
a concert, athletic competition,
high-profile visitor, or other
event. Most important, it helps
keep students, faculty, and
facilities safe.
college and university should
become compliant. And, campus authorities have ready
sources of help, including not
only online resources but
departments responsible for
emergency management—these
offer a wealth of assistance and
are located in every state and
most counties.
The National Incident
Management System is instrumental to effective emergency
Endnotes
1
http://www.icjia.state.il.us/public/pdf/
ResearchReports/Critical%20Incident%20
Preparedness%20and%20Response%20
on%20Campus%20Dec%2012%202008.
pdf.
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AUTHORIZING SIGNATURE
03/07
September 2009 / 19
UNIT III STUDY GUIDE
National Incident
Management System (NIMS)
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
6. Describe the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
Reading Assignment
Chapter 27: Emergency Response: An Overview, pp. 653-666
The article below may be located in the International Security and Counter Terrorism Reference Center
database in the CSU Online Library.
Fazzini, M. (2009). The importance of NIMS to campus emergency response. FBI Law Enforcement
Bulletin, 78(9), 14-19.
Unit Lesson
The National Incident Management System (NIMS), Incident Command System (ICS), and emergency
operations center (EOC) are common names to anyone in the emergency services or military (Kamien, 2012).
Prior to the attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States along with state and local governments faced
the threat of terrorist attacks, but did not have a plan for working together to mitigate a large scale attack. A
system called the Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) was the forerunner to NIMS, but there
were drawbacks. There are thousands of emergency services agencies around the United States, but only
one hundred and twenty-five agencies were willing to sign on to the system. These agencies were spread
across the nation, so there was no practical means to support one another if needed.
On February 26, 1993, the first attack on the World Trade Center occurred when a truck bomb in the parking
structure detonated, killing six people and injuring over one-thousand. Al-Qaeda terrorists on American soil
were rounded up and convicted of the attack and murders. Al-Qaeda announced that they failed to bring
down the World Trade Center and promised they would eventually destroy it; they did on September 11,
2001, in a manner that horrified the nation.
On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols detonated a bomb outside of the Murrah Federal
Building in response and protest to the federal government, FBI, and ATF taskforce’s 1993 attempt to arrest
the leader of the Branch Davidians, David Koresh, in Waco, Texas, and his subsequent death on April 19,
1993. The Branch Davidians’ situation sparked an interest in McVeigh and reinforced his distrust for the
federal government, which led him to become the most notorious domestic terrorist in American history. The
Waco, Texas, operation suffered from poor communications and multi-jurisdiction training issues. Further,
local authorities were not notified of the operation, and no medical evacuation plan for mass casualties was
created.
Much debate regarding multi-jurisdiction cooperation and communication procedures over the sharing of
intelligence was generated. When the Murrah Federal Building attack occurred, 169 men women and children
were killed, and another 680 persons were injured from the blast. The communications equipment consisting
of a patchwork of outdated radios and land lines failed. This made a coordinated local response to the
unfolding event difficult. Again, the debate over event coordination was reignited as communications for
emergency services’ ability to connect, share intelligence, and work with one another was hindered. Because
of these two attacks, individual jurisdictions were forced to create better ways to secure scenes and open the
lines of communications between local agencies and medical services (Burke, 2007).
FIR 4313, Terrorism Incident Management and Emergency Procedures
1
Eric Robert Rudolph was another domestic terrorist. He is known as the 1996 UNIT
Olympic
Park Bomber.
x STUDY
GUIDE After the
bombing, the FBI accused security guard Richard Jewell in connection with the
attack, who, while working,
Title
found a backpack full of explosives. He warned people in the vicinity to get back before it detonated. His
actions saved many lives. Unfortunately, Richard Jewell died at the age of 44. Some speculate that the stress
of his being vilified in the media may have contributed to an early death. Eric Rudolph was able to continue
his terrorist bombing campaign in 1997 and 1998, killing two and injuring several others. Because of the
attacks by Rudolph, law enforcement changed how it responds to terrorist scenes.
The Columbine High School attack on April 20, 1999, by two students against their fellow classmates and
faculty, killed several and injured dozens in the most deadly school shooting in American history. Law
enforcement and medical officials waited outside until it was safe to enter the building. This practice was
established because of the attacks perpetrated by Eric Rudolph. This delay caused the deaths of several
victims who perished from loss of blood while waiting to be rescued. This incident brought about procedures
for dealing with an active shooter. The role of law enforcement is now to follow a more militaristic approach.
However, the training procedures for responding to an active shooter situation were left up to the discretion of
local jurisdictions.
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) provides a framework for responders to plan for terrorist
attacks and natural disasters. Prior to the 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant meltdown on
March 11, 2011, in Tohoku, Japan, it would have been difficult to find a training manual for mitigating such
events. However, societies tend to develop emergency procedures after devastating catastrophes. The
purpose of NIMS is not only to get American emergency services and first responders talking to one another,
but also to get others from around the world communicating about strategies to combat tragic events.
Other issues to be considered are infrastructure and responding to the injured. Roads leading away from an
event may be clogged with those fleeing a scene. People who are injured will need responders. Some injured
may attempt to reach hospitals on their own. This presents a challenge as roadways become congested.
Hospitals should have advanced plans to deal with potential catastrophes because they can quickly become
overwhelmed with those seeking help. Local clinics should also have preparedness plans for major trauma
events that cause hospitals to overflow with the injured in need of medical attention. The efforts of all of these
facilities need to be coordinated, and communication between city authorities, responders, hospitals, and
clinics should be open and follow a set of procedures developed in advance.
In addition, contingency plans should include preparation for radiological attacks and the use of biological
agents. Survivors of these types of attacks need to be separated from others, and decontamination
procedures must be implemented. Proper procedures will prevent the accidental contamination of medical
staff and other bystanders. The challenge with these victims is that they may not realize they have been
exposed to radiation or deadly viruses. Victims may inadvertently contaminate others. Further, it may be
difficult to locate those unknowingly exposed, such as with the 2014 outbreak of Ebola that left thousands
sickened or dead. Hospitals and morgues have limited space available, so in the event of mass deaths it may
be necessary to acquire refrigerated trucks to store the bodies of the deceased to prevent the spread of
disease.
Once the scene of a terrorist attack is brought under control, the area of the attack will become a crime scene
that must be processed for evidence and other clues. This is true even if the suspects are caught or killed
during the attack. Evidence may reveal that a particular group or country is responsible and may indicate
pending plans of additional attacks that can be stopped.
There is still much debate over the many victims that were never recovered from the attacks at the World
Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The location of the new One World Trade Center is the final resting
place of many people and calls into question the processes used in deciding to build over the site of those
victims never found. Using this terrible event as a learning tool, we know that processing the scene of a
terrorist attack must be done with the utmost care and concern for the victims and survivors.
While processing the scene of an attack or natural disaster, first responders will encounter survivors who
need to be fed, clothed, and sheltered. This can be accomplished by coordinating with organizations such as
the Red Cross and private organizations such as Walmart and Target. Those who have been displaced will
usually find resources available through the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). In
catastrophic situations, responding emergency service workers will also need food, water, and places to rest.
These necessities are often provided by local businesses and organizations such as McDonalds, churches,
FIR 4313, Terrorism Incident Management and Emergency Procedures
2
and local school gyms. Again, FEMA is an important resource in aiding these UNIT
responders
and GUIDE
alleviating
x STUDY
suffering after a terrorist attack or natural disaster. Though FEMA has had some
issues over the years, it is
Title
still of utmost importance in emergency situations and is aligned under the Department of Homeland Security
and NIMS.
References
Burke, R. (2007). Counter-terrorism for emergency responders (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Kamien, D. (Ed.). (2012). McGraw-Hill homeland security handbook: Strategic guidance for a coordinated
approach to effective security and emergency management (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Suggested Reading
Anderson, A., Compton, D., & Mason, T. (2004). Managing in a dangerous world – The national incident
management system. Engineering Management Journal 16(4), 3-9. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=16605637&site=ehost-live&scope=site
The following videos discuss NIMS and ICS.
efilmlgroup. (2013, November 10). NIMS: Introduction to the National Incident Management System [Video
file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d39esZe-NXg
SalArmyEDS. (2011, August 12). Incident Command System: Positions & responsibilities [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G87bq9prx8
Wildfire Today. (2014, February 10). Introduction to next-generation incident command system [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mADTLY0t_eM
FIR 4313, Terrorism Incident Management and Emergency Procedures
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