ICS 700 Lesson 2

Open Ended

What do you think are the most important challenges in managing resources during emergencies?

Multiple Choice

Why is effective resource management crucial during an incident according to NIMS?

• It ensures resources are available for future use.

• It helps in minimizing costs only.

• It can be a matter of life and death.

• It is required for legal compliance only.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT one of the four key activities involved in resource management preparedness?

• Identifying and typing resources

• Qualifying, certifying, and credentialing personnel

• Planning for resources

• Disposing of unused resources

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Resource typing defines and categorizes incident resources by capability.

Resource typing establishes common definitions for capabilities of personnel, equipment, teams, supplies, and facilities.

Typing definitions include the following information:

Capability: the resource's capability to perform its function in one or more of the five mission areas: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery.

Category: the function for which a resource would be most useful (e.g., firefighting, law enforcement, health and medical).

Kind: a broad characterization, such as personnel, equipment, teams, and facilities.

Type: a resource's level of capability to perform its function based on size, power, capacity (for equipment), or experience and qualifications; Type 1 has greater capacity than Type 2, 3, or 4.

The current FEMA Resource Management and Mutual Aid link contains information on NIMS Resource Typing and Credentialing: http://www.fema.gov/resource-management-mutual-aid

The NIMS Resource Typing Library Tool, also available at the link above, is an online catalog of all NIMS resource typing definitions and job titles/position qualifications that have been released by FEMA.

Open Ended

Explain the differences between 'capability,' 'category,' 'kind,' and 'type' as used in resource typing.

Open Ended

What are the benefits of typing resources?

Multiple Choice

Which steps are essential for ensuring personnel can perform their assigned roles under mutual aid agreements?

• Qualification

• Certification

• Credentialing

• All of the above

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Coordinated planning provides a foundation for interoperability and compatibility of resources.

Jurisdictions and organizations work together before incidents to develop plans that identify, manage, estimate, allocate, order, deploy and demobilize resources.

The planning process includes identifying resource requirements to meet anticipated threats and vulnerabilities.

Resource management planning should consider resources needed to support all mission areas: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response and Recovery.

Resource management strategies for planners to consider include:

•Stockpiling resources

•Establishing mutual aid agreements to obtain resources from neighboring jurisdictions

•Determining how and where to reassign resources performing non-essential tasks

•Developing contracts to acquire resources from vendors

Estimating resource needs is a key activity in resource planning that enables jurisdictions to assess their ability to take a course of action.

Multiple Select

Which of the following are resource management strategies planners should consider when planning for resources?

• Stockpiling resources

• Establishing mutual aid agreements

• Developing contracts to acquire resources

• Ignoring non-essential tasks

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Organizations acquire, store, and inventory resources for both normal operations and incidents.

Effective resource management requires a current, accurate resource inventory to track resource status and availability.

This inventory can be as simple as a paper spreadsheet or as advanced as computer-based inventory systems.

Accurate resource inventories:

•Enable organizations to resource incidents promptly when needed

•Support day-to-day resource management

In NIMS, resource inventorying refers to preparedness activities conducted outside of incident response; resource tracking occurs during an incident. 

Multiple Choice

What are two main reasons why organizations need to maintain accurate resource inventories?

• To enable prompt incident response and support day-to-day management

• To reduce paperwork and minimize staff training

• To increase profits and reduce costs

• To comply with government regulations

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Resource Management Words of Advice

 

Kristy Plourde, Emergency Management Specialist, U.S. Coast Guard

"With standardized resource management of type and kind you know, when I order a type 2 law enforcement vessel and I've standardized that vessel, I know what capability I’m getting and because I’ve standardized it before the incident, I know exactly what I am getting and it is, it is very cool."

Multiple Choice

How does standardized resource management benefit emergency response operations, according to Kristy Plourde?

• It reduces the need for training

• It ensures predictable capabilities and outcomes

• It eliminates the need for inventories

• It allows for improvisation during incidents

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Resource Management Words of Advice

 

Daryl Lee Spiewak, Former Emergency Programs Manager, Brazos River Authority, TX

"Resource management is certainly important. We know each jurisdiction is going to have to have some resources available but they’re never going to have enough, there is always going to be shortfalls, and part of resource management is to manage those gaps in the availability of the resources. So, resource management under NIMS gives us a structure and a process to be able to do that. Part of it was the resource typing, so it streamlines the requesting of equipment, particularly among different jurisdictions and agencies. If I ask for a particular type of vehicle with certain equipment and with the right number of people, then I only need to make one request and I’ll get all of that. If there is something else, I ask for a different type of equipment. So the typing is going to help us tremendously under resource management. It also requires that we do inventories. Inventories let us know what equipment we have on hand. We compare that to what we think we’re going to need based on our planning and our exercising, we identified some of the gaps, and then we start looking for ways of filling those shortfalls. Mutual aid is one of those activities under resource management that is important in helping us use resources across levels, among different agencies, helps the taxpayers, helps the responders, helps the whole Nation."

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Resource Management Words of Advice

 

Ron Britton, Former NIMS Coordinator, FEMA, Region 10

"Resource management is much bigger than just identifying and moving vehicles or planes or so forth, that really, really involves the entire credentialing process of knowing all of our personnel resources capabilities and training background and so forth, that all needs to be done in a prior preparation event, so that we really know that when those folks arrive on scene, they’re capable of doing the job we’re asking them to do. So it starts with those folks, their credentialing, their qualifications, and then as well knowing the types of equipment that we would need to have on scene. So the equipment and the things that need to be there, and that would go under the communications as well because resource typing would involve the radios, the satellite phones, and all of the kinds of support communications that we would need for something to respond. So resource management is huge, and it really has to be done prior to the event."

Open Ended

What challenges might arise when managing resources during an emergency incident?

Multiple Choice

Based on the experiences shared by Daryl Lee Spiewak and Ron Britton, what are some key activities involved in resource management under NIMS?

• Resource typing, inventorying, credentialing, and mutual aid

• Only ordering equipment

• Focusing on communications only

• Ignoring personnel qualifications

Open Ended

Has anyone been involved in any of these key activities? What are some of the challenges you experienced?

Multiple Choice

Which step in the incident resource management cycle involves determining the type and quantity of resources needed, their location, and who will use them?

• Order and Acquire

• Mobilize

• Identify Requirements

• Track and Report

Open Ended

Explain how resource requirements are ordered and acquired during an incident, and what factors influence whether resources are activated locally or requested externally.

Multiple Select

When personnel are mobilized for an incident, which pieces of information are typically provided to them? Select all that apply.

• Estimated date and time of arrival

• Reporting location and assigned supervisor

• Applicable cost and funding codes

• Incident objectives

Open Ended

What are the main purposes of tracking and reporting resources during an incident?

Multiple Choice

What is the primary goal of demobilization in incident resource management?

• To acquire new resources

• To track the location of resources

• To return resources to their original location and status

• To mobilize additional personnel

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT a step in the reimbursement process for resource providers?

• Establish and maintain the readiness of resources

• Collect bills and validate costs

• Order and acquire resources

• Ensure timely payment to resource providers

Open Ended

Where have you seen this process used before?

Open Ended

Why is it important to begin demobilization planning as soon as feasible?

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Mutual Aid Agreements and Assistance Agreements

 

Bill Bullock, Retired Battalion Chief, Fairfax County Fire Department, VA

"Traditionally we’ve always considered mutual aid between fire departments, EMS agencies, or law enforcement agencies. In today’s world it is expanded to virtually every emergency function identified in either the national, State, or local response plan. It includes communications assets, public health assets. Some cases may include military affairs, may include animal refuge, may include search and rescue assets, and a host of others."

Multiple Select

Which of the following emergency functions may be included in mutual aid agreements, according to Bill Bullock's experience?

• Animal refuge

• Search and rescue

• Communications assets

• All of the above

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Mutual Aid Agreements and Assistance Agreements

 

Bill Metcalf, Former Fire Chief, North County Fire Protection District, CA

"At its simplest level, mutual aid is neighbor helping neighbor. It is adjoining fire departments sharing resources to suppress a fire that’s bigger than one agency can handle. It’s adjoining water companies helping each other replace a broken pipeline in an emergency because they don’t have sufficient manpower or equipment to do it. It’s anytime that neighboring agencies leave their jurisdictions to help each other."

Multiple Choice

Based on Bill Metcalf's experience, what is a key characteristic of mutual aid at its simplest level?

• Neighbor helping neighbor

• Competition between agencies

• Resource hoarding

• Strictly limited to fire departments

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Mutual Aid Agreements and Assistance Agreements

 

Leon Shaifer, Senior EMAC Advisor, National Emergency Management Association

"NIMS has proposed a number of solutions that could be applied very readily to mutual aid. One of the problems with mutual aid in the past has been a common terminology, a common nomenclature, speaking the same language. One term to one particular level of government doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing to another, and NIMS addresses those particular types of issues. We all try to speak in a common language, plain English. The other real benefit that NIMS can bring is resource typing. We all know that when you need something that is not readily available within your jurisdiction, you need it fast. It speeds up the process when a person that has an asset can understand very quickly what you are asking for, and if those resources are typed, the benefit to one of the NIMS requirements is that a person requesting something and asks for it knows what they are going to get when they follow a typing scheme."

Mutual aid agreements establish the legal basis for two or more entities to share resources.

 

Various forms of mutual aid agreements and compacts exist among and between all levels of government in the United States.

 

These agreements may authorize mutual aid:

•Between two or more neighboring communities

•Among all jurisdictions within an state

•Between States, Territories and Tribal Governments

•Between Federal agencies

•Internationally

•Between government and NGOs and/or the private sector

•Among NGOs and/or private sector entities

Open Ended

What questions do you still have about NIMS Resource Management, or is there any aspect you would like to explore further?

Multiple Choice

Why is it important to get the right resources to the right place at the right time during an incident?

• It can be a matter of life and death

• It saves money

• It reduces paperwork

• It improves public relations