FEMA National Incident Management System 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)?
- To provide a consistent nationwide framework for government and private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate incidents (Correct answer)
- To establish a federal chain of command that supersedes all state and local emergency management authorities
- To allocate FEMA grant funding to state and local governments for emergency preparedness
- To serve as the legal authority for federal intervention in state-declared disasters
Correct answer: To provide a consistent nationwide framework for government and private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate incidents
NIMS provides a consistent nationwide framework enabling government at all levels and the private sector to work together to manage incidents of any size, complexity, or cause.
Question 2: Which presidential directive established NIMS as a national standard?
- Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) (Correct answer)
- Presidential Policy Directive 8 (PPD-8)
- Executive Order 13407
- Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 (HSPD-8)
Correct answer: Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5)
HSPD-5, signed in February 2003, directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and administer NIMS as a national standard for incident management.
Question 3: Which of the following is NOT one of the core components of NIMS?
- Federal Disaster Relief Fund (Correct answer)
- Command and Coordination
- Communications and Information Management
- Resource Management
Correct answer: Federal Disaster Relief Fund
The core components of NIMS are Preparedness, Communications and Information Management, Resource Management, and Command and Coordination — the Federal Disaster Relief Fund is a funding mechanism, not a NIMS component.
Question 4: Under NIMS, what does the term 'Unified Command' allow?
- Multiple agencies with jurisdictional authority or functional responsibility to jointly manage an incident without losing agency authority (Correct answer)
- A single federal agency to assume full command over all state and local responders
- The incident commander to override elected officials during a declared emergency
- FEMA to take direct operational control of all resources at a disaster site
Correct answer: Multiple agencies with jurisdictional authority or functional responsibility to jointly manage an incident without losing agency authority
Unified Command allows agencies with different legal authorities and functional responsibilities to work together as a single command structure without surrendering their individual authority.
Question 5: In NIMS, 'scalability' means that the incident management system should:
- Expand or contract as needed to meet the demands of the incident (Correct answer)
- Always activate all components regardless of incident size
- Require federal authorization before local resources can be deployed
- Use only pre-approved resource types and kinds
Correct answer: Expand or contract as needed to meet the demands of the incident
Scalability is a key NIMS principle meaning that the management structure expands when needed for larger incidents and contracts as incident demands decrease.
Question 6: Which NIMS concept ensures that personnel only report to one supervisor during an incident?
- Unity of Command (Correct answer)
- Span of Control
- Modular Organization
- Unified Command
Correct answer: Unity of Command
Unity of Command means every individual has a designated supervisor they report to, which eliminates confusion and ensures accountability throughout the operation.
Question 7: According to NIMS, the recommended span of control for supervisors during emergency operations is:
- One supervisor for every three to seven subordinates, with five being optimal (Correct answer)
- One supervisor for every ten to fifteen subordinates
- One supervisor for every two subordinates regardless of incident type
- No limit, as long as the supervisor is experienced
Correct answer: One supervisor for every three to seven subordinates, with five being optimal
NIMS recommends a span of control ratio of 1:3 to 1:7 with 1:5 considered optimal to ensure effective supervision and accountability.
FEMA National Incident Management System 1
What is the primary purpose of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)?