The Incident Management Handbook (IMH) is designed to assist emergency management personnel in the use of ICS during all hazards response operations and planned events. The document:

• Clarifies FEMA’s field operating structure.
• Outlines how FEMA utilizes the characteristics of the ICS to interact with States, territories, tribes, and NRF agencies and partners under disasters and emergencies.

The Incident Action Planning Guide (IAP Guide) explains how to plan and execute operations during any incident. This document, based on the IMH:

• Explains the ICS incident action planning process.
• Describes how to use it during FEMA incidents.
• Defines the specific roles and responsibilities of the various participants.
• Establishes standards for incident action planning during FEMA incidents.

Accurate, consistent, and complete application of this guide is essential to successful incident operations.