National Incident Management System (NIMS)

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) provides a systematic, proactive approach to guide departments and agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work seamlessly to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity, in order to reduce the loss of life and property and harm to the environment. NIMS works hand in hand with the National Response Framework (NRF). NIMS provides the template for the management of incidents, while the NRF provides the structure and mechanisms for national-level policy for incident management.

NIMS incorporates incident management best practices developed and proven by thousands of responders and authorities across America. These practices, coupled with consistency and national standardization, are carried forward throughout all incident management processes: exercises, qualification and certification, communications interoperability, doctrinal changes, training, publications, public affairs, equipping, evaluating, and incident management. All of these measures unify the response community as never before. ​

​Local jurisdictions will report 2024 NIMS compliance using the “Reporting Compliance” tab located on the left side of this page. This is the same reporting method used in 2013, when the former NIMSCAST was no longer available. The Reporting Compliance tab contains an updated spreadsheet provided by FEMA to collect NIMS data from local jurisdictions. The deadline is December 31, 2024.