FAQs About NERIS: What Your Department Needs to Know

As fire departments prepare for the transition to the National Emergency Reporting Information System (NERIS), we understand there are many questions about how this new standard will fit into your operations. To help guide you through the changes and what’s coming next, we’ve compiled answers to frequently asked questions about ESO’s integration with NERIS, the development timeline, and how you can stay prepared. 

We will update and add new information as it becomes available, so be sure to bookmark this page and check back if questions arise. 

How is ESO building NERIS into its platform? 

After a lot of consideration with the development team, ESO is developing NERIS reporting as an update to the Fire Incidents reporting experience within ESO. NERIS and NFIRS are not very similar, and building NERIS fields into the current NFIRS-based reporting application would have been more confusing than helpful.  

You may be familiar with the documentation USFA has provided for NERIS, most of which can be found at this GitHub repository. While our product and design teams research the new data standard and divide reporting requirements into logical pages, sections, and fields, our development team is creating a lightweight, simple system that will be able to handle NERIS reporting for all our agencies. We’ll bring those pieces together over the coming months and create a new reporting workflow for the NERIS data standard.

Does ESO already have a NERIS integration? 

Not yet. USFA has provided RMS vendors with access to their Github repository and created vendor logins for a sandbox environment used only for testing and development purposes. We don’t have a live integration at this point. 

What is the timeline for development? 

ESO is following the timelines that USFA has set forth for the NERIS release as closely as possible. We hope to have a basic NERIS-compliant beta early in 2025, with additional updates (CAD imports, ESO EHR integration, ESO Insights reporting, etc.) rolling out throughout 2025.  

USFA is planning to have their NERIS reporting tool available early in 2025 as well. 2025 will be a hybrid reporting year, with some agencies still using NFIRS, and others starting to use NERIS reporting. USFA has stated that NFIRS data will no longer be accepted starting in 2026. 

What should I know about using NERIS within ESO? 

Since NERIS will be an update to the current ESO Fire Incidents experience, it will be enabled for your agency when a compliant version is ready. We plan on creating a full permissions set that system administrators can use to control which system users have access to the new NERIS application in ESO, and what kind of access they have.   

We’re still working on plans to distinguish test records from real agency data, with the hopes of allowing your agency to test the new application once it’s available and start submitting to NERIS when you’re comfortable. We’ll share more details soon. 

When do I need to start using NERIS? 

The timeline may vary. ESO’s basic NERIS reporting beta will launch in early 2025. It will be a simplified version and may not yet be ideal for agencies with ESO suite integrations like CAD and EHR imports. The target for early 2025 is a new, streamlined workflow that allows agencies to create, validate, and submit records to NERIS. Throughout 2025, we’ll be working to increase functionality, and all agencies will be expected to start using NERIS at the end of 2025. 

What will ESO charge for NERIS? 

Nothing. NERIS is considered a compliance requirement, not an upgrade or an extra feature, so there will be no additional cost for ESO Fire Incidents reporting when your agency begins using NERIS. 

What will NERIS include? 

NERIS organizes data into schemas, grouping related fields into primary and secondary categories.  

The primary schemas for NERIS include:  

• Entity: Defines the department’s resources and capabilities 

• Dispatch: Data elements captured by the agency CAD or RMS 

• Incident: Information collected per record, with smaller modules related to familiar topics such as Fire, Hazardous Situations, and Medical, along with new or modified topics like Emerging Hazards, Risk Reduction, and Rescue 

The secondary schemas, which USFA is still finalizing, include:  

• Incident Analysis: Comprehensive data for in-depth analysis of incident trends, investigations, and outcomes 

• Community Risk Reduction: Information to support targeted risk mitigation strategies within communities 

• Health and Safety: Metrics to protect both first responders and the public 

You can learn more about the data elements in NERIS’ primary schemas here.   

Can my department participate in the beta testing with ESO?  

ESO’s beta, a basic, compliant version of NERIS, will be available to all agencies in early 2025. Your agency will be able to use NERIS for testing and training purposes before the official switch to NERIS reporting. Records will not be locked or submitted until the update is fully live at the end of 2025. 

NERIS is missing something my department needs for reporting. What is ESO going to do about that? 

ESO’s primary focus right now is ensuring compliance with the NERIS standard. Our goal is to build a beta that can collect, validate, and submit incident records according to the new requirements. 

NERIS is still being updated, so we are being cautious not to move too far ahead of the official guidelines, which helps us avoid costly rewrites or incompatible data. 

In the future, ESO will expand beyond the basic NERIS requirements by adding additional data capture options based on feedback from agencies. 

I’m an accredited agency. Does NERIS have all the things I need for accreditation reporting?  

Not yet. The Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) recognizes that NERIS and NFIRS are very different data standards. They are currently working on aligning the CPSE accreditation requirements with NERIS. Read more here. 

Will I still be able to access my NFIRS data?   

Yes. Your agency will still be able to access the ESO Fire Incidents module and the Archived Fire Incident Search page. All relevant data will also be available in ESO Insights. Eventually, NFIRS data in ESO will be read-only and printable, but this will not happen until all agencies have fully transitioned to NERIS. 

What should I do if I have questions about NERIS?  

If you want to know more about how ESO is working on this project, you can submit your questions here. 

If you have questions for USFA, check out their FAQ page or contact their helpdesk.