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NIMS Basic - Resource Management

FEMA 501-4
March 27, 2006
Revision 0

I. Purpose:
This document describes basic concepts and principles that guide the resource management process.

II. Scope:
Resource management involves coordinating and overseeing the application of tools, processes, and systems that provide incident managers with timely and appropriate resources during an incident.
The NIMS ensures that resources move quickly and efficiently to support incident managers and emergency responders by standardizing the procedures, methodologies, and functions involved in these processes.

A. Coordination
Generally, resource management coordination activities take place within the EOC.  When they are established, multi-agency coordination entities may also prioritize and coordinate resource allocation and distribution during incidents.

B. Extract
This document is extracted from FEMA 501, National Incident Management System.  Refer to the NIMS in the event of conflicting information.

III. Table of Contents:
I. Purpose:.................................1
II. Scope: .................................1
A. Coordination ............................1
B. Extract .................................1
III. Table of Contents:.....................1
IV. Definitions: ...........................1
V. Process: ................................3
A. Concepts and Principles..................3
B. Concepts ................................3
C. Principles...............................3
1. Advance Planning.........................3
2. Resource Identification and Ordering ....3
3. Categorizing Resources ..................4
4. Use of Agreements........................4
5. Effective Management of Resources........4
a) Acquisition Procedures ..................4

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b) Management Information Systems ..........4
c) Ordering, Mobilization, Dispatching, and Demobilization...5
D. Managing Resources........................5
1. Identifying and Typing Resources .........5
2. Certifying and Credentialing Personnel ...6
3. Inventorying Resources....................6
4. Identifying Resource Requirements.........6
5. Ordering and Acquiring Resources..........7
6. Tracking and Reporting Resources.........7
7. Mobilizing Resources ....................7
a) Notification ............................8
b) Tracking ................................8
c) Interagency Guides.......................8
d) Demobilization ..........................8
8. Recovering Resources ....................8
a) Non-expendable Resources ................9
b) Expendable Resources.....................9
c) Waste Management.........................9
9. Reimbursing .............................9
VI. References:.............................10
VII. Supersedure:...........................10

IV. Definitions:
EMAC: Emergency Management Assistance Compact
EOC: Emergency Operations Center
GIS: Geographic Information Systems
IC: Incident Commander
ICS: Incident Command System
IMT: Incident Management Teams
NIC: NIMS Integration Center
NIMS: National Incident Management System
Resources: Includes personnel, teams, facilities, equipment, and supplies.

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V. Process:
A. Concepts and Principles
Resource management involves four primary tasks.  The basic concepts and principles that guide the resource management processes used in NIMS allow these tasks to be conducted effectively.
• Establish systems for describing, inventorying, requesting, and tracking resources.
• Activate those systems prior to, during, and after an incident.
• Dispatch resources prior to, during, and after an incident.
• Deactivate or recall resources during or after incidents.

B. Concepts
Resource management is based on the following concepts.
• Provide a uniform method of identifying, acquiring, allocating, and tracking resources.
• The standardized classification of kinds and types of resources required to support the incident management organization enables effective mutual aid and donor assistance.
• Use a credentialing system tied to uniform training and certification standards to ensure that requested personnel resources are successfully integrated into ongoing incident operations.
• The EOC and/or multi-agency coordination entities, as well as specific elements of the ICS structure such as the Resources Unit section in NIC document FEMA 501-3, NIMS Basic - Preparedness, are responsible for coordination.
• Include resources contributed by private sector and nongovernmental organizations.

C. Principles
Five key principles underpin effective resource management.

1. Advance Planning
Preparedness organizations as defined in FEMA 501-3 work together in advance of an incident to develop plans for how to manage and employ resources in a variety of possible emergency circumstances.

2. Resource Identification and Ordering
Resource managers:
• Use standardized processes and methodologies to order, identify, mobilize, dispatch, and track the resources required to support incident management activities.
• Perform these tasks either at an IC’s request, or in accordance with planning requirements.

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3. Categorizing Resources
Categorize resources by size, capacity, capability, skill, and other characteristics to make the resource ordering and dispatch process within jurisdictions, across jurisdictions, and between governmental and nongovernmental entities:
• More efficient.
• Ensure that ICs receive resources appropriate to their needs.
The NIC as described in NIC document FEMA 501-7, NIMS Basic Ongoing Management and Maintenance, is responsible for facilitating the development and issuance of national standards for typing resources and certifying personnel.

4. Use of Agreements
Pre-incident agreements among all parties providing or requesting resources are necessary to enable effective and efficient resource management during incident operations.
Establish formal pre-incident agreements such as mutual aid, EMAC, etc. between parties that might provide or request resources, both governmental and non-governmental, to ensure the employment of standardized, interoperable equipment, and other incident resources during incident operations.

5. Effective Management of Resources
Resource managers use validated practices to perform key resource management tasks in a systematic and efficient manner.

a) Acquisition Procedures
Preparedness organizations develop tools and related standardized processes to support acquisition activities used to obtain resources to support operational requirements.
Examples:
• Mission tasking.
• Contracting.
• Drawing from existing stocks.
• Making micro purchases.

b) Management Information Systems
Tools used to collect, update, and process data, track resources, and display their readiness status enhance information flow and provide real-time data in a fast-paced environment where different jurisdictions and functional agencies managing different aspects of the incident life-cycle must coordinate their efforts.
Examples:
• GIS.
• Resource tracking systems.
• Transportation tracking systems.

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• Inventory management systems.
• Reporting systems.

c) Ordering, Mobilization, Dispatching, and Demobilization
Preparedness organizations develop standard protocols for use within their jurisdictions to request resources, prioritize requests, activate and dispatch resources to incidents, and return resources to normal status.

Examples:
• Tracking systems that identify the location and status of mobilized or dispatched resources.
• Procedures to “demobilize” resources and return them to their original location and status.

D. Managing Resources
The NIMS includes standardized procedures, methodologies, and functions in its resource management processes to implement the concepts and principles in performing the primary tasks of resource management.  These processes reflect functional considerations, geographic factors, and validated practices within and across disciplines and are continually adjusted as new lessons are learned.
The basic foundation for resource management provided in this document will be expanded and refined over time in a collaborative cross-jurisdictional, cross-disciplinary effort led by the NIC.
The NIMS uses the following processes for managing resources.

1. Identifying and Typing Resources
Resource typing entails the following.
• Categorize resources that incident managers commonly request, use, and deploy by capability.
• Measurable standards identify the capabilities and performance levels of resources serve as the basis for categories.
• Resource users at all levels identify these standards and then type resources on a consensus basis, with a national-level entity taking the coordinating lead.
• Resource kinds may be divided into subcategories (types) to define more precisely the resource capabilities needed to meet specific requirements.
• Resource typing is a continuous process designed to be as simple as possible in order to facilitate frequent use and accuracy in obtaining needed resources.
The NIC is responsible for defining national resource typing standards to allow resources to be deployed and used on a national basis.  NIC document FEMA 501-9, NIMS Basic - Resource Typing System, presents a more complete discussion of the NIMS national resource typing protocol.

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2. Certifying and Credentialing Personnel
This system helps ensure that personnel representing various jurisdictional levels and functional disciplines possess a minimum common level of training, currency, experience, physical and medical fitness, or capability for the incident management or emergency responder position they are tasked to fill.
• Certifying personnel entails authoritatively attesting that individuals meet professional standards for the training, experience, and performance required for key incident management functions.
• Credentialing involves providing documentation that can authenticate and verify the certification and identity of designated incident managers and emergency responders.

3. Inventorying Resources
Preparedness organizations enter all resources available for deployment into a resource tracking system maintained at local, state, regional, and national levels, and make the data available to 911 centers, EOCs, and multi-agency coordination entities.
Resource managers:
• Use various resource inventory systems to assess the availability of assets provided by public, private, and volunteer organizations.
• Determine whether or not the primary-use organization needs to warehouse items prior to an incident by considering:
o The urgency of the need.
o Whether there are sufficient quantities of required items on hand.
o Whether the items can be produced quickly enough to meet demand.
• Manage inventories with shelf life or special maintenance considerations.
• Build sufficient funding for periodic replenishments, preventive maintenance, and/or capital improvements into their budgets.

4. Identifying Resource Requirements
All entities participating in an operation must begin close coordination at the earliest possible point in the incident life cycle because resource availability and requirements will constantly change as the incident evolves.
Resource managers identify, refine, and validate resource requirements throughout the incident life cycle.  This process involves accurately identifying:
• What and how much is needed?
• Where and when it is needed?
• Who will be receiving or using it?
Resources include:

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• Supplies.
• Equipment.
• Facilities.
• Incident management personnel and/or emergency response teams.
Resource managers provide technical advice to enable an item to be defined and translated into a specification if a requestor is unable to describe it by resource type or classification system.

5. Ordering and Acquiring Resources
Submit requests for items that the IC cannot obtain locally through the local EOC/multi-agency coordinating entity using standardized resource-ordering procedures.
If the servicing EOC is unable to fill the order locally, then the order is forwarded to the next level, generally an adjacent local, State, regional EOC, or multi-agency coordination entity.

6. Tracking and Reporting Resources
All agencies at all levels will conduct a standardized, integrated resource tracking process throughout the life cycle of an incident.
This process:
• Provides incident managers with a clear picture of where resources are located.
• Helps staff prepare to receive resources.
• Protects the safety of personnel and security of supplies and equipment.
• Enables the coordination of movement of personnel, equipment, and supplies.
Resource managers:
• Use established procedures to track resources continuously from mobilization through demobilization.  Ideally, they would display this real-time information in a centralized database accessible by all NIMS partners, allowing total visibility of assets.
• Follow all required procedures for acquiring and managing resources, including reconciliation, accounting, auditing, and inventorying.

7. Mobilizing Resources
Incident personnel begin mobilizing when notified through established channels.

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a) Notification
Provide personnel with the following at the time of notification.
• Date, time, and place of departure.
• Mode of transportation to the incident.
• Estimated date and time of arrival.
• Reporting location (address, contact name, and phone number).
• Anticipated incident assignment.
• Anticipated duration of deployment.
• Resource order number.
• Incident number.
• Applicable cost/funding codes.

b) Tracking
The resource tracking and mobilization processes are directly linked.
When resources arrive on scene, they must formally check in, which starts the on-scene in-processing and validates the order requirements.
Notification that the resource has arrived is sent back through the system.
For resource managers, the mobilization process may include:
• Equipping, training, and/or inoculating personnel.
• Designating assembly points that have facilities suitable for logistical support.
• Obtaining transportation to deliver resources to the incident most quickly, in line with priorities and budgets.

c) Interagency Guides
EOCs and IMTs take direction from standard interagency mobilization guides at the national, regional, State, tribal, and local levels.

d) Demobilization
Managers should plan and prepare for the demobilization process well in advance, often at the same time they begin the resource mobilization process.  Early planning for demobilization facilitates accountability and makes transportation of resources as efficient, costs as low, and delivery as fast as possible.

8. Recovering Resources
The recovery process involves the final disposition of all resources and includes:
• Rehabilitation.
• Replenishment.
• Disposal.
• Retrograde.
Returned resources that are not in restorable condition, whether expendable or non-expendable, must be declared as excess according to established regulations and policies of the controlling entity.

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a) Non-expendable Resources
These are fully accounted for at the incident site and again upon return to the unit that issued them.
• The issuing unit then restores the resources to fully functional capability and readies them for the next mobilization.
• The organization with invoicing responsibility for the incident, or as defined in pre-incident agreements, replaces broken or lost items through the supply unit.
In the case of human resources such as IMTs:
• Provide adequate rest and recuperation time and facilities.
• Mobilization guides developed at each jurisdictional level and within functional agencies provide appropriate rest and recuperation time guidelines.
• Address important occupational health and mental health issues to include monitoring their impact on emergency responders over time.

b) Expendable Resources
Expendable resources are also fully accounted for.
Restocking occurs at the point at which a resource was issued.  The incident management organization bears the costs of expendable resources, as authorized in preplanned financial agreements concluded by preparedness organizations.

c) Waste Management
Waste management is of special note in the process of recovering resources.  Resources that require special handling and disposition, such as biological waste, contaminated supplies, debris, and equipment, are dealt with in accordance with established regulations and policies.

9. Reimbursing
Reimbursement provides a mechanism to fund critical needs that arise from incident-specific activities.  Reimbursement processes also play an important role in establishing and maintaining the readiness of resources.
Processes and procedures must be in place to ensure that resource providers are reimbursed in a timely manner.  These must include mechanisms for:
• Collecting bills.
• Validating costs against the scope of the work.
• Ensuring that proper authorities are involved.
• Accessing reimbursement programs, such as the Public Assistance Program and the Emergency Relief Program.

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VI. References:
FEMA 501, National Incident Management System
FEMA 501-3, NIMS Basic - Preparedness
FEMA 501-7, NIMS Basic - Ongoing Management and Maintenance
FEMA 501-9, NIMS Basic - Resource Typing System

VII. Supersedure: Original