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More Than One Million Emergency Personnel Nationwide Complete Nims-Related Training


WEBWIRE

December 9, 2005, WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that 1,072,335 local, state, federal and other emergency preparedness and response personnel from across the country have completed the series of National Incident Management System (NIMS)-related training courses offered online. In addition to NIMS, the courses include an introduction to the National Response Plan and several Incident Command System (ICS) training courses.

Ninety-two percent (984,029) of personnel completing the courses as of Dec. 4, 2005, are emergency personnel working at local, state and tribal levels as well as others from the private sector and voluntary groups; more than one quarter of a million persons (250,598) have completed the online ICS courses. Over 77,000 have completed the NRP introductory course, which was made available online in October 2004.

“These numbers show that the nation’s emergency response personnel are heeding the call to adopt the National Incident Management System and learning how the National Response Plan works,” Acting FEMA Director David Paulison said. “Clearly, emergency personnel at all levels understand the importance of a common framework for responding to all kinds of hazards.”
FEMA’s NIMS Integration Center, which oversees and provides guidance on NIMS implementation, is coordinating the development of a National Standard Curriculum for NIMS built on federal training opportunities and course offerings that support NIMS implementation. It also has developed guidance that will help clarify elements of training courses necessary for NIMS-compliance and streamline the training approval process for courses recognized by the curriculum.

“It is critical that we approach incident management in a coordinated, consistent and efficient manner,” said Gil Jamieson, acting director of the NIMS Integration Center . “The NIMS is our nation’s incident management system and its full implementation among all jurisdictions and all levels of government must be achieved as quickly as possible.”

The courses, which also include IS-800 NRP, An Introduction ; IS-100, An Introduction to ICS and IS-200, Basic ICS , along with four additional introductory ICS courses tailored for specific disciplines including law enforcement and public works as well as federal workers, and single resource and initial action incidents. All are offered in a Web-based independent study format. NIMS, IS-100 ICS and ICS Basic also may be classroom delivered.

Meanwhile, the Center is developing additional discipline-specific ICS courses including public information and public health. These are entry-level ICS courses suitable for persons working in an ICS environment. The materials will be posted on EMI’s training Web site as they are developed. The online NIMS course went live on June 29, 2004. The other courses have been added as they were revised to make them NIMS-compliant and made available on the Web at training.fema.gov/emiweb/IS/ .

NIMS builds on the long-used and successful Incident Command System and the proven principles of unified command. Another key feature of NIMS includes communication and information management so that responders and managers across all agencies, professions and jurisdictions have a common operating picture for a more efficient and effective response.

FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program.



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