The National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) is an important federal initiative designed to modernize incident reporting for fire departments nationwide. While supporting NERIS’ mission to modernize incident reporting, ImageTrend recognizes that states and agencies may benefit from a data flow model that maintains their existing oversight and compliance structures.
NERIS specifies that incident data must flow directly from local agencies to NERIS, then from NERIS to the state. This structure creates probable risks:
- Loss of State Oversight: State offices have historically held responsibility for agency reporting. Bypassing states undermines that authority.
- Compliance Risks: Some states have specific compliance requirements that include additional custom fields not included in the NERIS schema. If data flows agency → NERIS → state, these fields will be excluded, leaving agencies with reporting gaps and potential compliance risks.
- Data Quality Risks: States traditionally work with agencies to review and validate incident data before it’s sent to the national database. Removing this step reduces opportunities to ensure accuracy and completeness.
Position
ImageTrend recommends giving agencies a choice through a collaborative data flow model: Agency → State → NERIS, which complements NERIS’ modernization goals while preserving state oversight and compliance integrity.
This model ensures that state-specific compliance requirements are preserved, that states retain oversight of data quality and agency reporting, and that agencies are not subject to potential compliance risks.
Rationale
The agency → state → NERIS data flow is more than a compliance safeguard; it strengthens oversight and supports the long-term needs of both agencies and states in several key ways:
- Preserves all state-mandated fields, including custom compliance fields.
- Upholds states’ role as the governing authority for agency reporting and compliance requirements.
- Ensures data accuracy and consistency by keeping states engaged in the validation process.
Recommendation
ImageTrend is committed to supporting and enabling the agency → state → NERIS data flow within our solutions. This is the model we are implementing for our customers as it preserves state oversight, supports governmental compliance requirements, and ensures states have the visibility they need to monitor data quality, state and local risks, and act quickly to protect their crews and communities.
Let’s Unite
We encourage agencies and states to consider this perspective and employ the best strategic approach to safeguard their data and maintain compliance.
