Incident Management Courses

The National Incident Management (NIMS) is an emergency response system of protocol that was created to be used during the event of a national crisis. It allows multiple agencies, both private and governmental, in various jurisdictions to work together using a common hierarchy of command. The NIMS system is based on the Incident Command System (ICS) that was established in the 1970s after research suggested that the biggest problem during the event of a natural disaster or a terrorist attack was not a lack of resources or ineffective tactics, but rather a lack of coordination and useful communication.

After the NIMS structure was passed in 2004, emergency response training courses were beginning to be offered on the internet so that emergency workers can be certified under NIMS standards. The core curriculum consists of several training courses that are taken over the course of five years. The NIC, the organization that manages the courses, has a goal of spreading NIMS education and training for all emergency management and response efforts by individuals on a executive, managerial, or first-hand level. The courses, IS200: Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents and IS800: National Response Framework Introduction are detailed in this section.

IS200 Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents:
IS200 is a course that has been written and revised by the EMI to reflect changes due to lessons learned since its initial offering in 1996. It added concepts essential in the National Response Framework. The course meets the standards created from the NIMS federal standard, and it uses standards created by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, the United States Fire Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture and the Emergency Management Institute.

The main goal of IS200 is to give personnel the tools needed to operate efficiently as they are responding to a national crisis being run by the ICS. Training in IS200 is for personnel most likely to assume a supervising role within the Incident Command System. The prerequisite for IS200 is IS100a and the course takes approximately three hours to complete.

IS800 National Response Framework Introduction:
The Independent Study Program implemented IS800 in 2008. The course is designed to introduce emergency personnel to the key concepts of the National Response Framework. The objectives of the course includes:

* Why the National Response Framework was established;
* The response doctrine outlined by the National Response Framework;
* The National Response Framework roles and responsibilities of all entities within an emergency situation;
* What actions aid in a national response to a crisis;
* How multiagency coordination is established;
* How planning and national preparedness go hand-in-hand.
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Emergency response personnel intended for IS800 includes government executives, private sector nongovernmental organizations, and emergency management workers. People who take this course should be senior-level managers and leaders, such as agency heads, tribal leaders, and city or county officials. Any position with a great amount of responsibility in the event of a crisis should take IS800

National Incident Management System

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) set forth a number of guidelines for incidents being responded to and managed during a crisis, deriving from the Homeland Security directive number 5. The NIMS structure is based highly on the Incident Command System (ICS) that was established in the 1970s as a result of a wildfire in California. After the situation ended and was evaluated, it was found that the amount of damage and deaths caused by the wildfire could have been significantly reduced if there was a uniform communication and command structure in place. Thus, the ICS was established to prevent emergencies from getting out of hand because of communication and structural issues, something that should never happen.

Today, training for the Incident Command System (ICS) is handled through a system of courses spanning across five years. The National Integration Center (NIC) is an organization that maintains the training program for emergency protocol during a crisis. The NIC has a goal of spreading NIMS education and training for all emergency management and response efforts by individuals on a executive, managerial, or first-hand level. The NIC has also established a set of minimum requirements that each emergency personnel are required to have before responding or preventing emergency situations.

The training program is comprised of a core curriculum of courses that range from beginner to advanced. These courses train individuals to meet standards for NIMS and ICS protocols. Two vital courses in the training program are ICS 100 and ICS 800.

ICS 100:
ICS is an essential course that helps individuals learn the basics of the NIMS/ICS protocol. ICS 100 clearly identifies the relationship between NIMS and ICS while describing the history and features they include. The following positions are recommended to take the course:

First-line Supervisor (Sergeant/Lieutenant), Mid-level management (Captain/Shift Commander) and command (Battalion Chief/Division Chief/District Commander/PIO) and general staff (Operations/Planning/Logistics/Finance-Admin).

ICS 100 is a course that can be taken entirely online if an individual decides to, but in some cases, all the paperwork and materials can be downloaded from the internet so that he or she can attend a classroom session or group meeting. Agencies qualified to provide the ICS 100 are on the Federal, State, tribal, and local level. Private organizations can also administer the ICS 100 if they are certified to do so.

ICS 800:
ICS 800 is a course for emergency response and prevention workers can take which introduces participants to the National Response Framework, including principles and concepts that it contains. At the end of ICS 800, the participant will be well versed in the following information:

* Why the National Response Framework was established;
* The response doctrine outlined by the National Response Framework;
* The National Response Framework roles and responsibilities of all entities within an emergency situation;
* What actions aid in a national response to a crisis;
* How multiagency coordination is established;
* How planning and national preparedness go hand-in-hand.

ICS 800 is intended for executives, private and nongovernmental organization leaders, and emergency management personnel. ICS 800 is generally administered in a classroom setting, and is taught in a total span of eight hours.