CLEARLAKE — The Clearlake City Council directed staff to draft a plan for inclusion in the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Adoption of a plan will make the city eligible for federal assistance for emergency preparedness, response and recovery.
NIMS is a component of Homeland Security efforts and surfaced as a result of Homeland Security Presidential Directive ? 5 (HSPD-5), Management of Domestic Incidents.
The directive requires a consistent nationwide template to enable federal, state and local governments to work together effectively and efficiently to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from domestic incidents including acts of catastrophic natural disasters and terrorism.
“NIMS is intended to integrate best practices, which have been proven effective over the years, into a nationwide guideline for public entities and private organizations to utilize in order to ?speak the same language” during an incident,” City Administrator Dale Neiman said in his report to the council on Sept. 11.
Lake County Fire Protection District has provided the city with a copy of its NIMS Implementation Plan to use as reference in drafting the city”s plan. With reference to the fire district”s document, the plan is to include several key factors such as emergency operation plans, staff training requirements, regional components, identification of key personnel and estimated timeline for implementation of the plan.
The plan is also to include a schedule for modification of existing plans, policies and procedures and a general comparison of the plan to the National Response Plan (NRP).
According to the document provided, the NRP details its reliance on NIMS operating principles and protocols in applying federal support to incidents of national significance.
Together, the NRP and the NIMS integrate the resources of jurisdictions, incident management and emergency response disciplines, non-governmental organizations and the private-sector into a seamless national framework for domestic incident response.
The NIMS establishes a uniform system for incident management. The NRP serves as the core operational plan for national incident management, establishing national-level coordinating structures, processes and protocols that must be incorporated into existing federal interagency incident plans.
Prior to the implementation of a NIMS plan, the item must be brought back to the council for adoption by resolution.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com.
