FEMA certifications FEMA National Incident Management System 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What federal directive established the National Incident Management System (NIMS)?
- Presidential Policy Directive 8
- Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) (Correct answer)
- Executive Order 13407
- Stafford Act
Correct answer: Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5)
HSPD-5, signed in 2003, directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and administer NIMS as the national standard for incident management.
Question 2: NIMS is designed to be applicable to:
- Only federal agencies
- Only natural disasters
- All hazards, all sizes, all jurisdictions, and all agencies (Correct answer)
- Only large-scale terrorism events
Correct answer: All hazards, all sizes, all jurisdictions, and all agencies
NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all levels of government, NGOs, and the private sector to manage incidents regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity.
Question 3: Which component of NIMS provides the structure for managing incidents?
- Resource Management
- Command and Coordination (Correct answer)
- Communications and Information Management
- Joint Information System
Correct answer: Command and Coordination
Command and Coordination is the NIMS component that describes leadership roles, processes, and recommended organizational structures for incident management.
Question 4: What is the purpose of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)?
- To create a single federal emergency management agency
- To provide a systematic, proactive approach to guide agencies to work seamlessly (Correct answer)
- To replace state and local emergency plans
- To fund disaster response operations
Correct answer: To provide a systematic, proactive approach to guide agencies to work seamlessly
NIMS provides a consistent foundation for government, NGOs, and the private sector to work together effectively to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from incidents.
Question 5: Under NIMS, which principle allows entities to request resources from another entity when their own resources are insufficient?
- Mutual Aid (Correct answer)
- Resource Typing
- Incident Action Planning
- Chain of Command
Correct answer: Mutual Aid
Mutual Aid agreements allow jurisdictions to share resources, facilities, services, and other support when their own capabilities are exceeded.
Question 6: What does NIMS require agencies to use for describing, inventorying, requesting, and tracking resources?
- Individual agency inventories
- Standardized resource typing and credentialing (Correct answer)
- Federal procurement contracts only
- State-level resource databases
Correct answer: Standardized resource typing and credentialing
NIMS requires standardized resource typing and credentialing so that resources can be accurately described and matched to incident needs across jurisdictions.
What federal directive established the National Incident Management System (NIMS)?