Coordinated Incident Management System

The New Zealand Coordinated Incident Management System ([CIMS]) - to give it its full title - is New Zealand's version of the Incident Command System (ICS) developed in the United States during the 1970's.

History
In 1996, the New Zealand Fire Service began to promote the idea of implementing an incident management system that was common across all emergency response and management agencies. In March 1997, a working group of representatives from New Zealand's emergency services, defence establishment, and local and central government was formed to discuss implementing a unified emergency management system based on the ICS model.

Despite having had a national fire service since 1975, and a national police force since the late 19th Century, there was no consistency in the management of the response to an emergency. When working in a multi-agency setting it was possible for the differing terms and control structures to result in confusion and conflict between the responders.

CIMS is now used by all emergency services and management agencies. These organisations include:


 * New Zealand Fire Service
 * New Zealand Police
 * National Rural Fire Authority
 * New Zealand Department of Conservation - with responsibility for emergencies in national parks
 * New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management - both at Central Government level and the nationwide network of Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups
 * St John New Zealand (ambulance services)
 * Wellington Free Ambulance
 * AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
 * Other Government Agencies

It is not strictly used by the New Zealand Defence Force, but the core components slot into the military command structure neatly.

Adoption
In recent years, CIMS has also been recognised as best practice for implementing management structures for response and recovery. Many organisations outside of those identified above are now adopting CIMS - including lifeline utilities, universities, and businesses. The key benefits are adopting a recognised standard, and being able to interoperate with other agencies during response to complex events that involve more than one agency.

Access to CIMS training
Training is provided by a number of public sector and commercial organisations. CIMS Level 2 is widely available from a number of vendors. CIMS Level 4 can only be delivered as a multi-agency course - usually lead in rotation by Police, Fire, Ambulance or the local Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) authority. For more information, contact your local Civil Defence Emergency Management authority for more information.

CIMS training is registered on the National Qualifications Framework, run by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.


 * NZQA Unit Standard 17279 (Level 2, 2 Credits) - Demonstrate knowledge of the coordinated incident management system (CIMS) (NZQA 17279 reference document)
 * NZQA Unit Standard 22445 (Level 4, 4 Credits) - Describe the roles and functions of a CIMS Incident Management Team (IMT) at an incident (NZQA 22445 reference document)