A long truck is parked alongside many pallets of packaged wood. A healthy Maine forest is in the background.
Member of the Women's Forest Firefighting Brigade of Amanalco, State of Mexico. Photo credit: USDA Forest Service Nayely Camarena.

Advance fire and disaster mitigation, response, and recovery

to save lives and protect property.

Everyone wants to be prepared when disaster strikes.
We support governments and emergency personnel around the world to prepare for, mitigate, and respond to emergencies.

The fundamental objective of our emergency management program, in collaboration with the Forest Service, is to help partner countries integrate relevant and adaptable components of the U.S. National Incident Management System into their disaster management systems. The aim is to increase emergency management capacity while ensuring sustainability and institutionalization of introduced systems.

Why it matters

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a management framework for integrating personnel, equipment, procedures, facilities and communications during emergency events. NIMS enables a structured response to all types of incidents, including: Wildfire | Hurricanes | Floods | Earthquakes | Planned Events

THE GOAL:
Assist countries and regions to shorten their emergency response time and distribute resources and aid more effectively to save lives and protect property.

What we do

We apply Forest Service’s domestic and international expertise to enhance disaster management systems around the globe. We support uptake of the following NIMS components:

INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM
MULTI-AGENCY COORDINATION SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT OF EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTERS
REPORTING & PUBLIC INFORMATION
EXERCISE DESIGN & MANAGEMENT
RESOURCES MANAGEMENT & PRIORITIZATION
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS
PREPAREDNESS LEVELS
ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT OF TRAINING
QUALIFICATION & CERTIFICATION
STANDARDS FOR PERSONNEL & EQUIPMENT


Our Approach

Foundation & Systems Adaptation

This phase establishes the area of focus for the program through consultations, review of current disaster management practices, identification of relevant U.S. concepts and systems, and initial adaptations for the local context.  Partner institutions and focal points are identified and formalized.

SAMPLE ACTIVITIES: Brainstorming Workshop | Consultations | Develop Training Plan | Policy & Plan Review

Training

Provides robust, intensive training in identified systems, with focus on a train the trainer program.  It includes course contextualization and coaching and mentoring of the initial offering of course.

SAMPLE ACTIVITIES:
Formal Training: ICS, EOC, Interagency Coordination, Exercise Design, Leadership, Emergency Support Function, Wildfire Suppression & Prevention | Consultation for Course | Contextualization | Study Tour

Operationalization

Supports the field-level use of systems during actual disasters or planned events. It may include pilot testing of systems at a local or regional level to evaluate and further contextualize training materials and operational procedures.

SAMPLE ACTIVITIES: Formation of Incident Management Teams | Develop & Conduct Exercises | Coaching & Mentoring During Disasters & Incidents | Support for Planned Events

Institutionalization

Assists the host government in integrating adapted disaster management systems into national legal and policy mechanisms and establishing standards for training and certificate programs.

SAMPLE ACTIVITIES: Embedded Technical Assistance | Development of Field Operations Guides | Training & Certification Standards | Position Task Books | Exercise Programs