Incident Management System - IMS

This documentation will refer to the Incident Management System (IMS) because that is the direction taken by Emergency Management Ontario (EMO) and this document was written in Ontario Canada.

IMS is built on the ICS (Incident Command System) and the names can be easily interchanged. Many will argue that IMS is ICS.

IMS can be thought of as the ICS expanded to include an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), as well as shelters and multiple organizations and agencies responding, who have each implemented the IMS internally.

National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a US Federal directive to implement a standard IMS Nationally.

EMRG - Ottawa ARES has adopted the use of IMS (Incident Management System) for managing service delivery to our clients in an emergency.

While the IMS structure is standardized, determining how to use IMS for Amateur radio, and how to align Amateur radio's use of IMS with the IMS structure of clients is the challenge.

IMS For Amateur Radio will be used in parallel with an ICS/IMS-100 course. The goal is to apply ICS/IMS to amateur radio, not to write an ICS/IMS course, or define a "new" IMS.

The key objectives for the IMS For Amateur Radio documentation include:

• create an awareness of the broader picture that Amateur radio must address with IMS.
• introduce the concept of Amateur radio as a service provider to multiple clients, rather than being volunteer "employees" of Emergency Mangement.
• provide a guide, with examples, of how to use IMS to manage Amateur radio emergency communications delivery.
• provide a list of recommended ICS/IMS forms for use by Amateur Radio, with notes on how to apply the form for Amateur radio.
• provide a guide for creating and using IMS identification, to identify key IMS roles.
• provide a guide for managing resources, meaning people, equipment and transportation, including local and outside volunteers.

This web page is a work in progress and documents should be considered draft. As Emergency Management Ontario (EMO) and the City of Ottawa Office of Emergency Management (OEM) finalize their IMS implementations, the IMS for Amateur radio documents will be updated to align with their direction.

EMO IMS Home

This set of training documents covers all aspects of using IMS for Amateur Radio from introduction to working with multiple EOCs.

This set of training documents covers specific aspects of using IMS for Amateur Radio, focusing on resource management, use of forms and identification of IMS positions for Amateur Radio.

These documents explain the roles and responsibilities for each of these IMS positions. Each document includes templates for tasks to complete, which forms to fill in, who gets the completed forms, etc. This can be used as training material and as a guide to fulfilling the position in an emergency.

These documents are references or guides to support IMS implementation. They are not training material, but must be reviewed as part of training.

The objective and benefit of IMS forms is standardization across all agencies and organizations, across North America. With everyone using the same IMS forms, resources can be moved across the county or country, and integrate together. Each agency or organization can use the forms that have benefit and add value in their plans. The goal of IMS is to assist and standardize, not hinder and overload the users.

Amateur radio will use the IMS forms as written, without modification. Some groups modify the forms for Amateur radio, in some cases keeping only the name and form number the same. Modifying the forms diminishes the goal of standardization.

Many forms come with notes to assist users filling out the forms. To make it easier for Amateur Radio, there is document with a set of Amateur Radio specific notes that covers all forms. This includes where to enter Amateur Radio information like a call sign, where to enter your ARES group name, or where to enter the call sign for a repeater.

Amateurs are volunteers and only work with the forms in exercises and a hand full of real events, so only the forms that add value are used.

The following is a preliminary list of ICS forms that appear to have relevance for Amateur radio use of IMS. Some may be added or removed over time. The Resource Status Cards (ICS 219) need more investigation on how to implement them for Amateur Radio, but it might provide a way to track resources and implement accountability for resources in the field.

These forms are available from EMO IMS Forms.

Some additional background about IMS can be found here.

For more information about IMS, please visit US ICS Information and US FEMA Forms.

Anyone wanting to provide feedback is encourgaged to write: Peter Gamble (VE3BQP)