Critical Incident Management and Geographically–Based Systems

Geographic Considerations

Geography is an element of every emergency situation and geographic decisions are among the very first required actions under the National Incident Management System, or NIMS. Although geographic information systems (GIS) technology may not be applicable, or available, for smaller incidents, its relevance increases as the incident expands in seriousness. Our intent, therefore, is to expose emergency managers to the technology should they be confronted with it at a large scale event or an event with a multitude of geographic variables.