The National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) is a technical
reference
Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a '' name'' ...
for emergency communication planning and for radio technicians responsible for radios that will be used in
disaster response
Disaster response is the second phase of the disaster management cycle. It consists of a number of elements, for example; warning/evacuation, search and rescue, providing immediate assistance, assessing damage, continuing assistance and the immed ...
.
The Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) was established by Congress through the Fiscal Year 2007 Appropriations Act as a response to communication challenges faced during the
September 11, 2001 attacks and
Hurricane Katrina.
During each of these events, the lack of coordinated emergency communication solutions and protocols among the responding agencies hindered response and recovery efforts. These events raised awareness of the issue among public policymakers and highlighted the critical role emergency communications plays in incident response.
The first version of the NIFOG was published in September 2007. It was developed in partnership with the
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
’s Office of the Chief Information Officer’s Spectrum Management Office to assist Federal and non-Federal agencies and potential users of the
mutual aid channels.
The NIFOG contains sections on:
*Regulations and guidelines for national interoperability
*Tables of nationwide
interoperability
Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader defi ...
channels and frequencies
*Common communications references
*Tables of commonly used frequencies for emergencies and disasters
*
Aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...
,
MURS
Murs may refer to:
People
* Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs (1804-1878), French ornithologist
* Olly Murs (born 1984), English singer-songwriter
* Murs (rapper) (born 1978), American rapper
Places
* Murs, Indre, France
* Murs, Vaucluse, ...
,
GMRS,
FRS,
CB, railroad,
SAR and
marine frequencies
*
Amateur emergency, calling and repeater frequencies
*
GETS and
Satellite Phone dialing instructions
It also includes an organized listing of the national mutual aid channels and other reference material.
The guide is a popular reference among preppers, survivalists, licensed amateur radio operators and owners of radio scanners. The frequencies allow them to gather intelligence and monitor emergency services, government agencies, and emergency amateur radio frequencies during and after a disaster.
The current version is 2.01 and was issued in March of 2022.
It can be ordered online, downloaded as a PDF or loaded into a mobile device.
References
{{Reflist
Incident management