The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency and the NIMS Integration Center have released a Web-based self-assessment system that will allow federal, state, tribal and local departments and agencies evaluate their incident preparedness and response capabilities. The voluntary system, the National Incident Management Compliance Assessment Support Tool, or NIMCAST, will also help users determine what they need to do to comply with National Incident Management System (NIMS) requirements.

"NIMCAST is a valuable tool that will allow organizations to evaluate and monitor their progress in implementing NIMS," said Michael D. Brown, under secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response. "But it's more than just a technical assessment system. It also will help the federal government target NIMS improvement strategies in areas where there is the greatest need."

Although the NIMCAST is a permission-based system, anyone may access the site and use the NIMCAST "Demo Assessment" to work through topics, descriptions and questions associated with all of the primary NIMS categories. Users may also download the complete assessment tool, chapter by chapter, in pdf, "read-only" format. NIMS points-of-contact for each of the FEMA Regional Offices were trained on the use of the system in mid-January. They will in turn provide NIMCAST training to state contacts. KW