Our nation’s schools are responsible for the most vulnerable segment of the population: children. The difficulty of protecting children is increasingly problematic due to the rise of school shootings, child predators, drugs, regional natural disasters, and terrorism.

Schools are responsible for both first response and long-term recovery of students during and after a crisis. However very few schools have the resources to provide training, staff, or other resources to deal with this challenge and pulling in outside resources such as personnel and funding needed to produce effective emergency management plans are not possible due to budget constraints at both the State and Federal levels.

The federal government now provides funding for schools to address these issues but schools must demonstrate compliance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) required by the US Department of Homeland Security to receive this money. With this money schools can install metal detectors, harden the school buildings against dangerous weather, conduct school-wide safety exercises, train staff, and anything else which will better protect children.

NIMS is an effective system which allows federally-funded agencies and institutions to work together during a crisis. But NIMS is targeted towards professional emergency managers. DHS mandated schools become NIMS compliant because they are public institutions which receive federal funds and are a critical piece of our nation’s infrastructure.

Schools do not have the resources to study the thousands of pages of NIMS documentation, training, and other supplemental material to “sort out” what NIMS compliance means. The US Department of Education (DOE) attempted to adapt NIMS for schools with the “Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools” (REMS) program. However this program still requires wading through hundreds of web pages to understand the exact execution details of how to become NIMS compliant.

NIMSmart gives schools the toolkit they need to become NIMS compliant with minimal effort and resources.

NVision’s NIMSmart is a comprehensive software tool that aids schools in creating and compiling emergency plans to become more compliant with Federal recommendations. It provides the foundation for a school emergency management approach which can grow. The hardest part is NIMS compliance, which opens the doors for federal funding and support.

Ease of Use

NIMSmart provides an easy-to-use wizard and templates which guide school staff members through the process of creating a plan quickly.

Simplicity

NIMSmart eliminates the need for grant writers or extra personnel to create emergency plans, reducing overhead costs and allowing schools to remain within their budgetary constraints.

Consistency

NIMSmart will generate a standardized, compiled emergency plan based on the responses provided by the user. A standardized plan will foster better coordination with Local and Federal agencies when required to respond to any emergency situation.

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