The Issue
Although IMTs have always been categorized by their type, there are no agreed-on standardized minimum performance capabilities that an AHIMT or a discipline-focused IMT deployed as a single resource should possess at each typing level. No organization is currently able to answer the question, “Exactly what level of performance capabilities should each Type team possess, and what are the specific differences of performance capabilities between the Types?” The frequent response of using an incident’s complexity level as part of the answer – “a Type 2 team should be capable of managing a Type 2 complexity-level incident” – introduces a certain degree of circularity and can therefore no longer be deemed sufficient, particularly when considering the variations seen in the definition of incident complexity levels
Desired End State
The document describes the background, history, significant research conducted, methodology, and framework developed to establish a process to quantify specific minimum Performance Capabilities that All-Hazards Incident Management Teams (AHIMTs) should possess at each of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) resource typing levels of Types 4, 3, 2, and 1.
By adopting the methodology and metrics proposed in this document, the response community and AHIMT programs are provided a solid foundation of guidance and metrics that assists in ensuring that all AHIMTs that respond to a jurisdiction’s or agency’s request are properly prepared and of sufficient Performance Capability (Type) to manage the incident or event successfully. It will also provide a system of measurement that can be incorporated into current curricula, exercises, and standards that course and exercise developers can use to measure successful performance capability at each Resource Typing level. Finally, it will establish the typing criteria for an AHIMT as a single resource, based on its capability, in compliance with the National Incident Management System Resource Typing methodology.