The National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) is a technical

reference A 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 ''nam ...

for emergency communication planning and for radio technicians responsible for radios that will be used in

disaster response Disaster response refers to the actions taken directly before, during, or immediately after a disaster. The objective is to save lives, ensure health and safety, and meet the subsistence needs of the people affected.UNGA (2016)Report of the open- ...

. 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 Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. 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, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

’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 Mutual aid is an organizational model where voluntary, collaborative exchanges of resources and services for common benefit take place amongst community members to overcome social, economic, and political barriers to meeting common needs. This ...

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 de ...

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'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

, MURS,

GMRS The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is a land-mobile FM UHF radio service designed for short-range two-way voice communication and authorized under part 95 of the US FCC code. It requires a license in the United States, but some GMRS comp ...

, FRS, CB, railroad, SAR and marine frequencies *

Amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

emergency, calling and repeater frequencies * GETS and

Satellite Phone A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio link through satellites orbiting the Earth instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. Therefo ...

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