Having a basic understanding of community or national emergency plans can help families in the event of a disaster. This is especially true during the response phase. The National Response Framework (NRF) is a great example of a national community reference. According to FEMA's 2013 publication, “The National Response Framework,” the NRF is a guide that describes the basis of the national response to any form of disaster. The NRF was developed from a long series of response plans. The first was the federal response plan which was replaced by the national response plan. Then, in 2008, the NRF was developed to make national response guidelines more efficient and to include practices created after Hurricane Katrina. The NRF is made up of 4 sections. These are the core document, the Emergency Support Functions (ESF) annexes, the support annexes and the incident annexes. These annexes describe how the NRF is implemented. It is important to note that the NRF and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) are intended to work in conjunction with each other, while the NIMS and its component Incident Command System (ICS) provide the NRF with an incident management function (Federal Emergency Management System). Management Agency, 2013c, pp. 2-3). The NRF is based on several guiding principles. It is about engaged partnership, multi-tiered response, scalable operations, unified effort/command, and readiness to act (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2013c, pp. 5-6). What makes the NRF unique is that it is intended to lead the response efforts of the entire national community. FEMA believes that inclusion of the entire community is necessary to promote national preparedness. Although the NRF notes that individuals and families are not form...... middle of document ......ext. In W. L. Waugh and K. Tierney, Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government (p. 63). Washington DC: International Association for City/County Management. Perry, R. W., & Lindell, M. K. (2007). Disaster response. In W. L. Waugh, & K. Tiernery, Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government (pp. 162-163). Washington DC: International City/County Management Association. Sylves, R. T. (2007). Emergency management budget. In W. L. Waugh and K. Tierney, Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government (p. 312). Washington DC: International City/County Management Association. Walsh, D. W., Christen, H. T., Christian E. Callsen, G. T., Maniscalco, P. M., Lord, G. C., & Dolan, N. J. (2012). The national incident management system: principles and practice. Burlington, MA: Bartlett and Jones Learning.