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Staff Training Information

NIMS TRAINING FOR K-12 SCHOOLS
AND INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

 

All employees are highly encouraged to take
basic FEMA courses in emergency management.

Courses are offered in the following classifications:

  • 100-700 Level Courses - All Employees
     
  • 200 Level Courses - Classroom level personnel, such as Teachers and Classroom Aides
     
  • 300 Level Courses - School Police Officers
     
  • 400 Level Courses - School level personnel, such as Administrators and Coordinators

In order to fulfill NIMS requirements, schools and institutions of higher education (IHE) should determine what personnel need to receive incident command system (ICS) and NIMS training based on their role(s) in the overall school or IHE emergency management program.

In accordance with U.S. Department of Education (ED) guidance, certain “key personnel” are required to complete the following six courses in order for an individual or organization to be considered NIMS compliant through FY 2011:

  1. IS-100 An Introduction to the Incident Command System[1]

    This FEMA course covers the roles and responsibilities in the Incident Command System (ICS) and shows you how basic ICS principles can be applied in school-based incidents. It also prepares you to interface with community response personnel during an incident.

  2. IS-200  ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents

    This FEMA course prepares you to supervise or manage an incident using the Incident Command System. You must have already completed IS 700 to take this course. It is recommended that you complete IS 100 before taking this course.

  3. IS-700  NIMS, An Introduction,

    This FEMA course introduces you to the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which provides a nationwide template for incident response. In this course, you learn the concepts and principles of NIMS.

  4. IS-800B  National Response Framework, An Introduction

    This FEMA course provides an introduction to the concepts and objectives of the National Response Framework. You also learn the roles and responsibilities of entities in the National Response Framework and how planning relates to national preparedness. There are no prerequisites for this course.

  5. ICS-300 (Classroom Only) Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents, and
  6. ICS-400 (Classroom Only)  Advanced Incident Command.

FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency)  offers many other courses of interest to educators. Click here for course descriptions and links to other suggested courses.

In addition, ED recommends that Executive Leaders also consider taking G-402,  Incident Command System (ICS) Overview for Executive/Senior Officials.

To assist with determining who “key personnel” might be within a school or IHE, ED has created the following chart:

EXECUTIVE LEADERS

GENERAL PERSONNEL

COMMAND STAFF

INCIDENT MANAGERS

Executive Leaders must be familiar with the comprehensive systems supporting emergency management, even though they may not have a designated role in the incident command system.

Executive Leaders are often responsible for making financial, administrative, and managerial decisions supporting the school or IHE emergency management program and will likely have very high-level responsibilities before and after an incident, as opposed to command responsibilities in the field during an actual incident response.

Executive Leaders
should take the following two courses:

  • G-402 -Incident Command System(ICS)Overview for Executive/Senior Officials
  • IS-700 -NIMS, An Introduction

NOTE: Depending upon the unique school, LEA, or IHE, Executive Leaders may include:

  • Institution President
  • Superintendent
  • Provost
  • Chancellor
  • Principal

General Personnel are those with any role in emergency preparedness, incident management, or response.

General Personnel should complete the following two courses:

  • IS-700 -NIMS, An
    Introduction
  • IS-100 - An Introduction
    to ICS

NOTE: Depending on the school, LEA or IHE campus, General Personnel may include:

  • Emergency Management (ICS) Team members
  • Nurses and Health Officials
  • Counselors, Psychologists, Psychiatrists
  • School Resource Officers
  • School Security Officials
  • [Information] Technology
  • Specialists
  • Bus Drivers
  • Administrators
  • Educators/Faculty
  • Coaches and Athletic Staff
  • Facilities, Housing, and Food Preparation Staff
  • Campus Citizen Emergency Response
  • Team (CERT) members
  • Resource staff, paraprofessionals, and support personnel
 Command Staff are personnel assigned to lead any key campus emergency management effort;they have a specific role within
the ICS.

Command Staff should complete the following four courses, at a minimum:

  • IS-700 -NIMS, An Introduction
  • IS-100 - An Introduction to ICS
  • IS-800B - National Response Framework, An  introduction
  • IS-200 - ICS for Single Resources and Initial
    Action Incidents

NOTE: Depending on the school, LEA, or IHE the Command Staff may include the following personnel:

  • Public Information Officer
  • Safety Officer
  • Liaison Officer
  • Any staff that plays a vital role on the operations, planning, logistics, or finance/administration braches of the ICS team for the school, LEA, or IHE. Personnel with a leadership role in command (e.g., district, school or IHE Incident Commander, School Police Chief). These individuals are typically obligated to command and manage incidents that occur on the school or IHE campus in the absence of traditional incident response personnel (local Fire Chief, local Police Chief). These personnel also include those school officials, including school police, who would likely be integrated into a more advanced ICS role (e.g., unified command) should it become necessary.

Incident Managers should complete the following two courses:

NOTE: Depending on the unique school, LEA, or IHE, Incident Managers would likely include the following personnel:

  • Director of School/Campus Security
  • School/Campus Chief of Police School Security Chief

1) Completion of course IS/ICS-100.SC, Introduction to the Incident Command System for Schools or IS/ICS-100.HE Introduction to Incident Command System for Higher Education constitutes completion of course IS/ICS-100.

2) G-402 Incident Command System (ICS) Overview for Executives/Senior Officials does not fulfill mandatory training requirements for key personnel under NIMS. However, ED for the purposes of the REMS and EMHE grant programs, and the Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) performance indicator calculations, has determined that the school or IHE emergency management team may use its discretion to recommend this course to executive personnel in place of IS-100. Grantees may include this course in their determination of average number of courses completed by key personnel.

3) ICS-300 and ICS-400 are not available online and must be taken in-classroom through State, Tribal, and local emergency management training programs.