Most Commonly Used Emergency & Disaster Acronyms

Emergency management and disaster preparedness fields use an astonishing number of abbreviations to identify organizations, jobs, roles, tasks, events, objects, places – and, of course, paperwork.

To help you navigate the acronym waters, here are definitions for abbreviations you are most likely to encounter. Download our glossary.

Many definitions in this guide are from the FEMA ICS Resource Center, which includes a more detailed glossary and a wealth of other information about disaster preparedness.  

A — D

AAR
After Action Report

ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

AES
Animal Emergency Sheltering

APHIS
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

ARES
Amateur Radio Emergency Services

AHJ
Authority Having Jurisdiction: person or agency with delegated authority to determine, mandate, and enforce code requirements established by jurisdictional governing bodies

ARC
American Red Cross

CBRNE
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear or Explosive

CART
Community/County Animal Response Team

CDC
Centers for Disease Control

CEMP
Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan

CERT
Community Emergency Response Team

CISD
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing

COOP
Continuity of Operations Plan

Comm
Communications

CONOPS
Concept of Operations

CONUS
Continental (or Contiguous) United States

CP
Command Post

CSI
Crime Scene Investigation

DART
Disaster Assistance Response Team

DECON
Decontamination Area, Decontamination Process

DEM

Department (or Division) of Emergency Management (will sometimes have the state initials in front of it): state entity responsible for disaster planning and response; Demobilization, the process of concluding the response to a disaster event

DA
Department of Agriculture

DFO
Disaster Field Office: headquarters for FEMA staff and operations during a disaster

DHS
Department of Homeland Security: unifying core for national network of organizations and institutions involved in the response to threats and hazards in the United States

DMAT
Disaster Medical Assistance Teams

DNR
Department of Natural Resources

DOD
Department of Defense

DOE
Department of Energy

DOH
Department of Health

DOI
Department of the Interior

DOT
Department of Transportation

DRC
Disaster Recovery Center: facility or mobile office where applicants may go for information about FEMA or other disaster assistance programs

DSCA
Defense Support to Civil Authority

E — H

EA
Emergency Assistance

EHS
Environmental Health & Safety, Extremely Hazardous Substance

EMA
Emergency Management Agency

EMAC
Emergency Management Assistance Compact

EMI
Emergency Management Institute: oganization within FEMA that offers courses for people who have emergency management responsibilities

EMS
Emergency Medical System: First response services such as fire, law enforcement, paramedics

EOC
Emergency Operations Center: physical location at which the coordination of information and resources to support incident management activities takes place

EOP
Emergency Operations Plan: plan each jurisdiction has for responding to appropriate hazards

EPA
Environmental Protection Agency

ER
Emergency Relief

ESF
Emergency Support Function: grouping of governmental and certain private sector capabilities into an organizational structure to provide support, resources, program implementation and services to save lives, protect property and the environment, restore essential services and critical infrastructure, and help victims and communities return to normal following domestic incidents

 

ESF 01
Transportation

ESF 02
Communications

ESF 03
Public Works and Engineering

ESF 04
Firefighting

ESF 05
Emergency Management

ESF 06
Mass Care, Housing and Human Services

ESF 07
Resource Support

ESF 08
Public Health and Medical Services

ESF 09
Urban Search and Rescue

ESF 10
Oil and Hazardous Materials Response

ESF 11
Agriculture and Natural Resources

ESF 12
Energy

ESF 13
Public Safety and Security

ESF 14
Long-term Community Recovery and Mitigation

ESF 15
External Affairs

FIR
ASPCA’s Field Investigations and Response Team

FOG
Field Operation Guidelines

GOHSEP
Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (LA)

GIS
Geographic Information Systems

HAZMAT
Hazardous Material

HHS
Health and Human Services

HUREVAC
Hurricane Evacuation

I — O

IA
Individual Assistance, Inter-local Agreements

IA-TAC
Individual Assistance – Technical Assistance Contractor

IAEM
International Association of Emergency Managers

IAP
Incident Action Plan: written plan that defines response to a specific incident, including objectives, strategy and resources

IC
Incident Commander: person responsible for all incident activities, including strategies, tactics and resources

ICP
Incident Command Post

ICS / IMS
Incident Command System/Incident Management System: standardized on-scene emergency management organization designed to aid in the management of resources during incidents

IEMS
Integrated Emergency Management System

IMAT
Incident Management Assistance Team

JFO
Joint Field Office

JIC
Joint Information Center: facility established to coordinate all incident-related public information activities

JOC
Joint Operations Center

JITT
Just in Time Training

LEPC
Local Emergency Planning Committee

LOGS
Logistics

MA
Mission Assignment

MAA
Mutual Aid Agreement: agreement between organizations that generally defines the roles the organizations will play during a disaster

MACS
Multi-Agency Coordination System: MACS provide the architecture to support coordination for incident prioritization, critical resource allocation, communications systems integration and information coordination

MASH
Mobile Animal/Army Surgical Hospital

MOU
Memorandum of Understanding: disaster-related MOU is an agreement between organizations that very specifically defines the roles each may play during a disaster

MRC
Medical Reserve Corp

MRE
Meal Ready to Eat

MSDS
Material Safety Data Sheet: form that provides workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working with a particular substance in a safe manner

MSPSA
Multi-State Partnership for Security in Agriculture

NARSC
National Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition

NASAAEP
National Alliance of State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs

NDMS
National Disaster Medical System

NEMA
National Emergency Management Association: NEMA is professional association for state emergency management directors

NFPA
National Fire Protection Association: The NFPA mission is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by developing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training and education

NG
National Guard

NGO
Non-Governmental Organization

NIC
NIMS National Integration Center

NIMS
National Incident Management System: federally-mandated management structure used for disasters

NOAA
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

NVOAD
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters

NWS
National Weather Service

OEM
Office of Emergency Management: local or state department responsible for the response plan for a locality or state

OEP
Office of Emergency Preparedness

OHSEP
Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Prepardness (LA)

OPS
Operations OSHA Occupational Safety & Health Administration

P — Z

PA
Public Assistance

PETS Act
Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006

PIO
Public Information Officer: member of the Incident Command staff responsible for communicating with the public and media or with other agencies with incident-related information requirements

PKEMRA
Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act

POC
Point of Contact

POD
Point of Distribution: centralized locations where the public picks up life-sustaining commodities following a disaster or emergency

PPE
Personal Protective Equipment

PSA
Public Service Advertising, Public Service Announcement

PST
ASPCA’s Personnel Support Trailer

RACES
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services

RRCC
Regional Response Coordination Center

SAADRA
Southern Animal and Agricultural Disaster Response Alliance

SAR/ S&R
Search and Rescue

SART
State Animal Response Team

SitRep
Situation Report: report summarizing the status of the incident and its response

SO
Safety Officer

SOG
Standard Operating Guidelines

SOP
Standard Operating Procedure

SOU
Statement of Understanding

SUA
Shared Use Agreement

TS
Tropical Storm

UC
Unified Command: team of individual representatives of multiple organizations who together have authority and responsibility for incident operations and management

USDA
United States Department of Agriculture

USAR
Urban Search and Rescue

VMAT
Veterinary Medical Assistance Team: VMATs assist the local veterinary community with the care of animals and provide veterinary oversight and advice on animal related issues and public health during a disaster

VRC
Veterinary Reserve Corp