Improving home-based hospice understanding and use of the National Incident Management System for emergency and disaster preparation and response.

Critical to an organized and successful emergency response is having a plan based on the framework used exclusively by community and national emergency service organizations, that is, the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Standardization is vital so that diverse types of organizations can work in harmony to respond to emergencies. NIMS provides the opportunity for this standardization. Home-based hospices are generally unaware of NIMS and its value during a multiagency response to an incident. Care should be taken to revise emergency and disaster preparation and response plans to reflect the national standard.