Which NIMS Command and Coordination Structure Makes Cooperative Multi-Agency Decisions?
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a nationally standardized framework for incident management. This standardization enables all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work together effectively during domestic incidents.
NIMS structures are designed to provide consistency in incident management through common organizational structures, terminology, and processes. They also facilitate interconnectivity among emergency responders across jurisdictions and disciplines. Here we will discuss the most important question “Which Nims Structure Makes Cooperative Multi-Agency Decisions”
MAC Group
MAC Groups are policy-level entities that operate under the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and make cooperative multi-agency decisions. They enable decision making between selected and appointed representatives and the Incident Commander responsible for managing the incident.
Typically, the MAC Group consists of agency administrators or executives or their designees from stakeholder agencies and organizations that are impacted by resources committed to the incident. These groups may also include representatives from non-governmental organizations, such as businesses and volunteer organizations.
A MAC Group provides a common platform for these elected and appointed officials to discuss their policies on incident management and to collaborate on strategies for addressing challenges and obstacles to effective incident response. The MAC Group also supports the development of emergency response plans.
To facilitate a cooperative approach to NIMS, the MAC Group includes policy-level members and is staffed by emergency management professionals with specialized knowledge of NIMS. These individuals can be found at local, state, and federal levels of government.
In general, MAC Groups are designed to make decisions and take action to alleviate the most severe resource shortages that could result from an incident. In addition, they help establish priorities for the allocation of critical health/medical resources to support an incident.
When a decision is made, it should be carefully documented to indicate when the issue will need to be revisited by the MAC Group in light of new information, circumstances, or other factors. This documentation should be kept as part of the MAC Group’s records.
The MAC Group will meet periodically to review identified issues, recommend resolutions, and discuss new or ongoing key initiatives. It will also disseminate decisions and other information to the host County ECC Manager, other public ECC managers, other response agencies and organizations’ leadership, as identified.
At the end of each H/M MAC Group meeting, Agency Administrators and Agency Representatives identify issues for future MAC Group discussions. These will be vetted with the H/M MAC Group Coordinator and MAC Group Members before being presented to the MAC Group for a decision.
MAC Groups are a vital part of NIMS. They provide a common platform for policy-level officials to make cooperative multi-agency decisions, which enhances unity of effort at the senior level. This structure is a must for achieving efficient and effective incident management.
Joint Information System
The Joint Information System (JIS) integrates incident information and public affairs into a unified organization that provides consistent, coordinated, accurate, accessible, timely and complete information to the public and stakeholders during incident operations. JIS operates across and supports the other NIMS Command and Coordination structures: ICS, EOC and MAC Group.
The Multi-Agency Coordination Group (MAC Group) is responsible for ensuring that multi-agency agencies make cooperative decisions during incidents. It is composed of elected and senior public safety officials, decision makers and experts. The group also helps in prioritizing and allocating resources to support a coordinated response.
In a disaster situation, it is essential that the right information is released to the public and the media. The MAC Group develops a Joint Information Plan that outlines the strategies and methods by which the public information will be released.
MAC Group members can include personnel from various agencies, such as law enforcement and emergency medical services, that work together to coordinate the incident or event. The group also has a Public Information Officer to support MAC Group operations.
It is a critical structure that provides the means for emergency communications to flow effectively from local governmental agencies and NGOs to the public. The MAC Group ensures that the public is informed of the incident and is aware of their rights during an event.
When a major or significant event occurs, it is important to coordinate the response and recovery efforts among all federal agencies involved. This coordination is facilitated by the MACS or Multi-Agency Coordination System, which enables all agencies to work more efficiently and collaboratively.
This system is designed to help the federal agencies and local governments coordinate their efforts in readiness, protection, reaction, rehabilitation, and prevention. It allows the federal government to prioritize and allocate incident requests for crucial resources to improve field operations management.
In the event of a major or severe emergency, the Incident Command System (ICS) and Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) activate to manage the response to the incident. The MAC Group provides the policy guidance and high-level decision-making to ICS and EOCs.
Incident Command System
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a management system that integrates facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common organizational structure. Its purpose is to enable effective domestic incident management by allowing responders from multiple agencies to coordinate their response activities within a common organizational hierarchy, thereby ensuring that the highest priority concerns are addressed in a timely manner.
ICS establishes an orderly line of authority, called the chain of command. This organizational structure defines clear reporting relationships between incident commanders and other responders, which eliminates the confusion that can occur when there are several conflicting orders for a single individual.
Each individual assigned to a particular role has a designated supervisor at the scene of the incident. This supervisor serves as the “commander” of that individual and reports to the next higher level supervisor in the ICS organization.
Division and Group Supervisors are responsible for implementing the portion of the incident action plan that applies to their division or group, assigning resources to those divisions or groups, and monitoring progress of operations activities and resource status. They also provide the incident commander with information and advice about resource management and incident priorities, as well as report on any critical incident-related issues.
This organizational structure can expand or shrink based on the incident’s scope and needs. It can be a permanent system that is activated in advance to prepare for and support an emergency, or it can be implemented only when necessary to meet the specific incident’s requirements.
In the United States, ICS is most commonly used to command domestic incidents of all sizes and severity. It is a required component of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Incident Management System.
ICS is also widely used by other agencies and organizations, including fire, law enforcement, and private sector responders. The ICS is one of the most proven on-scene emergency management structures and has been successfully implemented in many different settings throughout the world, resulting in fewer incidents and less loss of life.
A major reason for this is that a good ICS structure has a strong foundation in the principles of unity of effort and standardization. These principles allow the responding organizations to coordinate their efforts without compromising their jurisdictional or functional responsibilities. They also enable the coordinating entities to maintain their own independence and authority while effectively supporting each other during an incident.
Emergency Operations Center
The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is a centralized facility that provides strategic coordination of response and recovery efforts. It is used by all states, most cities, counties, tribes, major employers, military installations and health care facilities.
An EOC can be located anywhere on a site, but it is most often co-located with an emergency communications center and other related buildings. The EOC is typically staffed by key campus emergency personnel and senior management.
These individuals are highly trained in incident command and their roles and responsibilities at the EOC. In the event of a large scale disaster, they activate the EOC to ensure that all operations such as; emergency alert and warning, care and shelter, evacuation, search and rescue, resource mobilization and recovery are coordinated.
Depending on the level of threat or response, the EOC can be staffed with up to 75 people. These persons include campus officers, supervisors, and emergency service coordinators from various departments.
They also may be representatives of emergency response agencies, contractors, volunteer agencies or any other group with significant response roles. They may be pre-designated or called in based on the size of the incident and response level.
When an EOC is activated, it becomes part of the incident management structure of NIMS and receives senior level guidance from MAC Groups. The MAC Groups support the Incident Commander and other senior officials with policy-level decision making to assist in the prioritization of resources.
The MAC Groups help establish and maintain the policies, procedures and processes needed to carry out the incident management plan. They also help identify and manage the flow of information among agency leaders, senior officials and other organizational representatives.
This is essential in order to allow agencies to operate in a cooperative manner and provide each other with the necessary information. The MAC Groups also help with the development of the NIMS Training Program, which focuses on developing and sustaining a personnel qualification system for emergency management personnel.
The NIMS Training Program offers baseline courses for MAC Group personnel and briefings from their emergency management directors. These courses are designed to provide a foundation of knowledge for MAC Group members to understand their role in the overall incident structure and what they need to know about their jurisdictions’ threats and hazards.
