The National Incident Management System (NIMS)

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) was mandated on February 28, 2003, by Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5. It was intended to "...provide a consistent nationwide approach for federal, state, local, and tribal governments to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity."

The NIMS manual is available online and is intended to complement the National Response Plan.