NIMS Activity 19: Inventory organizational response assets

K-12 schools and IHEs maintain an inventory of any applicable organizational response assets -- equipment, resources and supplies-that support NIMS and incident response.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Activity 19: Maintain an inventory of organizational response assets -- equipment, resources, and supplies.

K-12 schools and IHEs maintain an inventory of any applicable organizational response assets -- equipment, resources and supplies -- that support NIMS and incident response.

Association to NIMS

Resource management involves the coordination, oversight, and processes necessary to provide timely and appropriate resources during an incident. Utilization of standardized resource management concepts such as typing, inventory, ordering, and tracking of resources will facilitate their dispatch, deployment, and recovery before, during, and after an incident. Furthermore, standardization of resource management between community partners will strengthen the unified approach, ensuring a seamless and integrated response.

Maintaining and assessing inventory is a key preparedness activity and directly impacts response capacity. Resource management facilitates the continual assessment of available assets to be made available during incident response, and also helps to identify internal gaps and redundancies among response partners such as local emergency management authority.

Resource management involves acquisition procedures, management information, and redundant systems and protocols for ordering, mobilizing, dispatching, and demobilizing resources. Acquisition procedures are used to obtain resources to support operational requirements and work to determine specific items needed prior to an incident, which items need to be replenished over time, and which will need to be acquired at the time of response.

Implementation Guidance

To increase preparedness in the event of an emergency incident, K-12 schools and IHEs should work with community partners to continually inventory response assets, maintain current data on the available resources, and coordinate these with community partners including the local emergency management authority. Schools and IHEs should internally maintain emergency equipment and supplies, work with community partners to identify additional needs in the event of an emergency, and establish processes for securing the necessary support, services, and supplies at the time of a response action. These coordinated efforts can be supported through partner agreements, thereby helping to ensure schools and IHEs have access to the necessary tools and supplies in the event of an emergency.

Because schools and IHEs are not traditional response agencies, they likely will not have comparable resources to those in the community resource management system. Inventory systems for resource management are adaptable and scalable, and therefore, schools should also work with the local emergency management authority and community partners to determine their unique needs, and any necessary steps for procuring the critical equipment and tools the schools or IHE may need in the event of an incident. Through the collective management of resources, redundancies and needs are better identified, and the community is better prepared to effectively respond in the event of an emergency. Schools, districts, and IHEs with large emergency inventories should work with their partners to apply NIMS resource typing principles as presented in the IMSI "Resource Management' Fact Sheet presented at http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/ResourceMngmnt.shtm#item4.

Schools and IHEs might choose to store emergency supplies in preparation for or an emergency that requires students and staff to shelter in place. Administrative or classroom "Go-kits" (i.e., portable stockpile of emergency supplies) can be created in preparation for those emergencies that require an evacuation. The emergency management team should select supplies and go-kit contents that address the needs of the specific school or IHE, its population, climate, facilities, and resources. Because emergency supplies and go-kit contents are so important, the school emergency management plan should reference both the supplies to be stockpiled, their dates of expiration, and staff role responsible for stocking and replenishing.

Sample activities demonstrating that schools and IHEs are maintaining an inventory of any applicable organizational response assets-equipment, resources and supplies-that support NIMS and incident response.

• Identifying supplies and go-kit contents necessary for effective response;
• Inventorying any equipment, resources, or supplies maintained at the LEA or IHE and sharing that information with relevant local partners;
• Maintaining and continually replenishing supplies and go-kits to support response efforts; and
• Creating partner agreements providing for and securing additional equipment, supplies, and resources from community partners during response.