"NIMS provides a core set of common concepts, principles, terminology and technologies in the following areas: Incident Command System (ICS). Much of NIMS is built upon the ICS, which was developed by the Federal, State and local wildland fire agencies during the 1970s. ICS is normally structured to facilitate activities in five major functional areas: command, operations, planning, logistics and finance/ administration. In some circumstances, intelligence and investigations may be added as a sixth functional area. Multi-agency coordination systems. Examples of multi-agency coordination systems include a county emergency operations center, a State intelligence fusion center, the DHS National Operations Center, the DHS/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Response Coordination Center, the Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Strategic Information and Operations Center and the National Counterterrorism Center. Unified command. Unified command provides the basis from which multiple agencies can work together effectively with a common objective of effectively managing an incident. Unified command ensures that regardless of the number of agencies or jurisdictions involved, all decisions will be based on mutually specified objectives. Training. Leaders and staff require initial training on incident management and incident response principles, as well as ongoing training to provide updates on current concepts and procedures. Identification and management of resources. Classifying types of resources is essential to ensure that multiple agencies can effectively communicate and provide resources during a crisis. Situational awareness. Situational awareness is the provision of timely and accurate information during an incident. Situational awareness is the lifeblood of incident management and effective response operations. Without it, decisions will not be informed by information on the ground and actions will be inefficient and ineffective. Situational awareness requires continuous monitoring, verification and integration of key information needed to assess and respond effectively to threats, potential threats, disasters or emergencies. Qualifications and certification. Competent staff is a requirement for any leader managing an incident. During a crisis there will not be time to determine staff qualifications, if such information has not yet been compiled and available for review by leaders. To identify the appropriate staff to support a leader during a crisis, qualifications based on training and expertise of staff should be pre-identified and evidenced by certification, if appropriate. Collection, tracking and reporting of incident information. Information today is transmitted instantly via the Internet and the 24/7 news channels. While timely information is valuable, it also can be overwhelming. For an effective response, we must leverage expertise and experience to identify what information is needed to support decision-makers and be able to rapidly summarize and prioritize this information. Information must be gathered accurately at the scene and effectively communicated to those who need it. To be successful, clear lines of information flow and a common operating picture are essential". Crisis action planning. Deliberative planning during non-incident periods should quickly transition to crisis action planning when an incident occurs. Crisis action planning is the process for rapidly adapting existing deliberative plans and procedures during an incident based on the actual circumstances of an event. Crisis action planning should also include the provision of decision tools for senior leaders to guide their decision-making. Exercises. Consistent with the National Exercise Program, all stakeholders should regularly exercise their incident management and response capabilities and procedures to ensure that they are fully capable of executing their incident response responsibilities". (DHS, NRF Comment Draft, September 2007, pp. 46-47)