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.
