Thanks
I bet Louisiana public workers were somewhere in a transition to the "federally mandated" NIMS management protocol for disaster response.
http://www.fema.gov/nims/nims_compliance.shtm
The NIMS provides a consistent, flexible, and adjustable national framework within which government and private entities at all levels can work together to manage domestic incidents, regardless of their cause, size, location, or complexity. This flexibility applies across all phases of incident management: prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.2. Standardization.
The NIMS provides a set of standardized organizational structuressuch as the Incident Command System (ICS), multiagency coordination systems, and public information systemsas well as requirements for processes, procedures, and systems designed to improve interoperability among jurisdictions and disciplines in various areas, including: training; resource management; personnel qualification and certification; equipment certification; communications and information management; technology support; and continuous system improvement.C. OVERVIEW.
The NIMS integrates existing best practices into a consistent, nationwide approach to domestic incident management that is applicable at all jurisdictional levels and across functional disciplines in an all-hazards context. Six major components make up this systems approach. Each is addressed in a separate chapter of this document. Of these components, the concepts and practices for Command and Management (Chapter II) and Preparedness (Chapter III) are the most fully developed, reflecting their regular use by many jurisdictional levels and agencies responsible for incident management across the country. Chapters IV-VII, which cover Resource Management, Communications and Information Management, Supporting Technologies, and Ongoing Management and Maintenance, introduce many concepts and requirements that are also integral to the NIMS but that will require further collaborative development and refinement over time.