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<< Chapter
IV - RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Chapter VI - SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES >>
Chapter V
NIMS
- Communications
and Information Managment
Effective
communications, information management, and information
and intelligence
sharing are critical aspects of domestic incident management.
Establishing and maintaining a common operating picture
and ensuring accessibility and interoperability are principal
goals of communications and information management. A
common operating picture and systems interoperability
provide the framework necessary to:
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formulate
and disseminate indications and warnings;
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formulate, execute,
and communicate operational decisions at an incident
site, as well as between incident management entities
across jurisdictions and functional agencies;
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prepare for potential
requirements and requests supporting incident management
activities; and
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develop and maintain
overall awareness and understanding of an incident
within and across jurisdictions.
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Prior
to an incident, entities responsible for taking appropriate
preincident actions use communications and information
management processes and systems to inform and guide
various critical activities. These actions include
mobilization or predeployment of resources, as well
as strategic planning by preparedness organizations,
multiagency coordination entities, agency executives,
jurisdictional authorities, and EOC personnel. During
an incident, incident management personnel use communications
and information processes and systems to inform the
formulation, coordination, and execution of operational
decisions and requests for assistance.
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A.
CONCEPTS and PRINCIPLES.
1. A Common Operating Picture
Accessible Across Jurisdictions and
Functional Agencies.
A common operating picture allows incident
managers at all levels to make effective, consistent, and
timely decisions.
Integrated systems for communication, information management,
and intelligence and information sharing allow data to
be continuously updated during an incident, providing a common
framework that covers the incident’s life cycle across
jurisdictions and disciplines. A common operating picture
helps ensure consistency at all levels of incident management
across jurisdictions, as well as between various governmental
jurisdictions and private-sector and nongovernmental entities
that are engaged.
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2. Common Communications and
Data Standards.
Common communications and data standards and
related testing and compliance mechanisms are fundamental
to an effective
NIMS. Communications interoperability in the context of incident
management is also critical. Effective communications outside
the incident structure—between other levels of government
and between government and private entities—for resources
and other support is also enhanced by adherence to such standards.
Although much progress has been made in these areas, much
more work remains to be done. Additional progress toward
common communications and data standards and systems interoperability
will be accomplished over time through a sustained collaborative
effort facilitated
by the NIMS Integration Center.
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TOP
B. MANAGING
COMMUNICATIONS and INFORMATION.
NIMS communications and information systems enable the essential
functions needed to provide a common operating picture and interoperability
for incident management at all levels in two ways:
1.
Incident Management Communications.
Preparedness organizations must ensure that effective
communications processes and systems exist to support
a complete spectrum of incident management activities.
The following principles apply:
a. Individual Jurisdictions.
These
will be required to comply with national interoperable
communications standards, once
such standards are developed. Standards appropriate
for NIMS users will be designated by the NIMS
Integration Center in partnership with recognized
standards development organizations (SDOs).
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b.
Incident Communications.
These will follow the standards called for under
the ICS. The IC manages communications at an incident,
using a common communications plan and an incident-based
communications center established solely for use
by the command, tactical, and support resources
assigned to the incident. All entities involved
in managing the incident will utilize common terminology,
prescribed by the NIMS, for communications.
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2.
Information Management.
The NIMS Integration Center is charged with facilitating
the definition and maintenance of the information framework
required to guide the development of NIMS-related information
systems. This framework consists of documented policies
and interoperability standards.
a.
Policies
(1)
Preincident Information.
Preincident information needs are met
at the Federal, State, local, and tribal levels,
in concert with private-sector and nongovernmental
organizations, primarily through the preparedness
organizations described in Section III.B.1.
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(2)
Information Management.
The information management system provides
guidance, standards, and tools to enable
Federal, State, local, tribal, and private-sector
and nongovernmental entities to integrate
their information needs into a common operating
picture.
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(3) Networks.
Indications
and warnings, incident notifications and public
communications, and the critical
information that constitute a common operating
picture are disseminated through a combination
of networks used by EOCs. Notifications are
made to the appropriate jurisdictional levels
and to private-sector and nongovernmental
organizations through the mechanisms defined
in emergency operations and incident action
plans at all levels of government.
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(4) Technology
Use.
Agencies must plan in advance for the effective
and efficient use of information management
technologies (e.g., computers and networks)
to tie together all command, tactical,
and support units involved in incident management
and to enable these entities to share information
critical to mission execution and the cataloguing
of required corrective actions.
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TOP
b.
Interoperability Standards.
Facilitating the development of data standards
for the functions described below, including
secure communications when required, is the responsibility
of the NIMS Integration Center described in Chapter
VII. Standards will be developed in accordance
with the following design goals:
(1)
Incident Notification and Situation Report.
Incident notification takes place at all
levels. Although notification and situation
report data must be standardized, it must
not prevent information unique to a reporting
organization from being collected or disseminated.
Standardized transmission of data in a common
format enables the passing of appropriate
notification information to a national system
that can handle data queries and information
and intelligence assessments and analysis.
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(2) Status Reporting.
All
levels of government initiate status reports
(e.g., Situation Reports
[SITREPS] and Pollution Reports [POLREPS])
and then disseminate them to other jurisdictions.
A standard set of data elements will be defined
to facilitate this process.
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(3) Analytical
Data.
Analytical data, such as information on
public health and environmental monitoring,
is collected in the field in a manner that
observes standard data definitions. It
is then transmitted to laboratories using
standardized
analysis processes. During incidents that
require public health and environmental
sampling, multiple organizations at different
levels
of government often respond and collect
data. Standardization of sampling and data
collection
enables more reliable laboratory analysis
and improves the quality of assessments
provided to decision-makers.
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(4)
Geospatial Information.
Geospatial information is used to integrate
assessments, situation reports, and incident
notification into a coherent common operating
picture. Correct utilization of geospatial
data is increasingly important to decision-makers.
The use of geospatial data must be tied to
consistent standards because of the potential
for coordinates to be transformed incorrectly
or otherwise misapplied, causing inconspicuous,
yet serious, errors. Standards covering geospatial
information should also be robust enough
to enable systems to
be used in remote field locations, where
telecommunications capabilities may not have
sufficient bandwidth to handle large images
or are limited in terms of computing hardware.
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(5) Wireless Communications.
To
ensure that incident management organizations
can communicate and share information with
each other through wireless systems, the
NIMS will include standards to help ensure
that wireless communications and computing
for Federal, State, local, and tribal public
safety organizations and nongovernmental
organizations are interoperable.
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(6) Identification
and Authentication.
Individuals and organizations
that access the NIMS information management
system and,
in particular, those that contribute information
to the system (e.g., situation reports),
must be properly authenticated and certified
for security purposes. This requires a national
authentication and security certification
standard for the NIMS that is flexible and
robust enough to ensure that information
can be properly authenticated and protected.
While the NIMS Integration Center is responsible
for facilitating the development of these
standards, different levels of government
and private organizations must collaborate
to administer the authentication process.
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(7) National Database
of Incident Reports.
Through the NIMS Integration
Center, Federal, State, local, and tribal organizations
responsible
for receiving initial incident reports will
work collaboratively to develop and adopt
a national database of incident reports that
can be used to support incident management
efforts.
<< Chapter
IV - RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Chapter VI - SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES >>
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