7.1 Overview

This lesson begins our three-week examination of homeland security, emergency preparedness, and disaster management. This first lesson covers basic concepts of disaster management, as well as the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Geospatial Concept of Operations (GeoCONOPS). The assignments for this lesson are different from other lessons in that you will do most of your work on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Management Institute website. You will complete the online training courses for the NIMS and GeoCONOPS, resulting in your basic certification in these areas. This basic knowledge will improve your ability to understand how geospatial intelligence can support interagency disaster preparedness and response activities.

Lesson Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• explain the basic concepts of emergency management;
• explain the role of the major agencies/organizations;
• discuss the capabilities and limitations of different types of organizations;
• describe the key concepts, principles, scope, and applicability underlying the National Incident Management System (NIMS);
• describe how GIS technology can support the emergency management community to include: GIS fundamentals and history; how GIS is used in emergency management and tools available to enhance GIS usefulness.