Say it in the language the incident command uses.
ESF and NIMS fields on every Need and Offer.
When a Need or Offer belongs to an incident, mark it incident-related and classify it: mission area, hazard, FEMA region and declaration, one of the fifteen Emergency Support Functions, and NIMS resource typing. Everyday listings stay simple.
30-day free trial · ImpactVolunteer included · No credit card
What incident listings are
Incident listings are an optional layer on the Create Need and Create Offer forms. Turn on incident-related and the form asks for a mission area, a hazard type, a FEMA region (required for United States listings), a declaration status and ID, a primary Emergency Support Function with up to two secondary ones, and NIMS resource typing drawn from a searchable catalog. Leave it off and the listing stays an everyday one. The same classification can be linked to an Event.
What you can do
These are fields on the Create Need and Create Offer forms.
Turn it on only when a listing belongs to an incident. When it is off, no incident fields are required.
Choose Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response or Recovery, and a hazard from hurricane and flood to public health and infrastructure failure.
Pick the FEMA region, which is required for United States listings, and record the declaration status and FEMA declaration ID.
Pick a primary ESF from the fifteen, plus up to two secondary ones. The form suggests an ESF from the listing's category, and records whether the value came from you, the AI or a default.
ESF #6 Mass Care asks for a mass care function, and ESF #7 Logistics opens a logistics function field.
Search the resource catalog, then set the type (untyped or Type 1 to 4), the basis for it, the core capability and the ICS section.
Tie the listing to an Event so the response is read as one operation, though linking is optional.
How it runs
Start a Need or Offer
Open Create Need or Create Offer as usual and fill in the everyday fields.
Switch on incident-related
Choose the mission area and hazard, then the FEMA region and declaration if one applies.
Classify it
Pick the ESF and, where relevant, the NIMS resource and type. Post the listing.
Pick your organization type
The fields are the same for every organization. How you use them is not.
Nonprofits
Describe response needs and offers the way emergency managers read them, so they are easier to act on.
Open the page →Foundations
Read incident-tagged needs across your grantees and members by ESF and hazard.
Open the page →Government
Read and respond to listings in ESF and NIMS terms, with FEMA region and declaration attached.
Open the page →Suppliers
Tag the supply you list so it lines up with ESF logistics and typed resources.
Open the page →Business
Offer capacity in terms an emergency operations center recognizes.
Open the page →Academia
Classify research, equipment and expertise offers for a response.
Open the page →Related modules
Every posted need travels the same path. Follow it forward or back.
Questions
Do I have to fill in ESF and NIMS fields?
No. They only apply when you mark a Need or Offer as incident-related. An everyday listing needs none of them.
What are Emergency Support Functions?
ESFs are fifteen standard categories for the kinds of help a response needs, from ESF #1 Transportation and #7 Logistics to #8 Public Health and Medical Services and #15 External Affairs. A listing has a primary ESF and up to two secondary ones.
What is NIMS resource typing?
It describes a resource in standard terms, such as its category, kind and capability level. A resource can be untyped or typed from Type 1 to Type 4, and you can search a catalog of resource types when you classify a listing.
Is the FEMA region required?
For incident-related listings in the United States, yes. Outside the United States it is not required.
Can the form fill these in for me?
It suggests an ESF from the listing's category and records whether the value was set by you, by the AI or by default. You can change it.
Does this change how matching works?
It gives listings a standard vocabulary that responders recognize. Matching still reads the category, quantity and location you enter.
One platform. Every day your mission matters.
Say it in the language the incident command uses.
Classify your next incident listing.
Thirty-day free trial, no credit card. The fields are on the Create Need and Create Offer forms.
Start Trial Now, no credit card required