National Incident Management System
Developed by the Secretary of Homeland Security at the request of the President, the National Incident Management System (NIMS) integrates effective practices in emergency preparedness and response into a comprehensive national framework for incident management. The NIMS will enable responders at all levels to work together more effectively to manage domestic incidents no matter what the cause, size or complexity. The benefits of the NIMS system will be significant:
Standardized organizational structures, processes and procedures;
Standards for planning, training and exercising, and personnel qualification standards;
Equipment acquisition and certification standards;
Interoperable communications processes, procedures and systems;
Information management systems; and
Supporting technologies – voice and data communications systems, information systems, data display systems and specialized technologies.
http://www.fema.gov/nims/Here is the link to EMAC which was set up in 1996
http://www.emacweb.org/?9In looking at these two organizations it seems to me that EMAC was emasculated when the National Incident Management System was put into place in 2003. The question to ask is does NIMS supercede EMAC and that was why FEMA was refusing help instead of it being State and Local officials being the ones to respond to those attempts to help?