The following free, online courses, provided online by the FEMA Emergency Management Institute are recommended for USCOC personnel. They should be taken in the order indicated. As each course is completed, and the final exam taken, a certificate of completion will be issued by the EMI.
Incident Command training is being developed and offered for a variety of disciplines, including Federal Disaster Workers, Public Works, Law Enforcement, and Public Health. All of the ICS training offered through these courses is consistent. However, the various versions include examples and exercises specific to each of these disciplines.
Description
IS-100, Introduction to the Incident Command System, introduces the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides the foundation for higher level ICS training. This course describes the history, features and principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System. It also explains the relationship between ICS and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
On February 28, 2003, President Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5. HSPD-5 directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and administer a National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents.
This course introduces NIMS and takes approximately three hours to complete. It explains the purpose, principles, key components and benefits of NIMS. The course also contains "Planning Activity" screens giving you an opportunity to complete some planning tasks during this course. The planning activity screens are printable so that you can use them after you complete the course.
What will you be able to do when you finish this course?
Although this course is designed for the specific organization of "Community Emergency Response Teams" (CERT), most of the information included in the course will apply directly to USCOC Disaster Operations. The Course outline is as follows:
