A Basic Premise of the National Response Framework is that communities, not the federal government, are best positioned to manage day-to-day operations during most incidents. This National Response Framework is a guide to how the whole community–all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and individuals–works together to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from incidents. The National Response Framework is built on scalable, adaptable, and flexible concepts identified in the National Incident Management System to align key roles and responsibilities across the whole community, giving incident managers the best possible chance to save lives and protect property and the environment during an emergency or disaster.