Training and education resources available from FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI)

The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) offers more than fifty independent study courses. These are self-paced courses designed for people who have emergency management responsibilities and the general public. For most of the courses you will need to download and print the materials. Others are interactive courses that you can take directly over the internet. All are offered free-of-charge to those who qualify for enrollment. Each Independent Study Course includes lessons with practice exercises and a final examination. Students who score 75 percent or better are issued a certificate of achievement from EMI.
Course completion times vary from two to fourteen hours, depending on the course and the student’s background. College credit can be obtained after successful completion of a course.

Mandatory National Incident Management System (NIMS) training for CERTs

"Full NIMS implementation" or "full NIMS compliance" in FY2007

Beginning in FY 2007, which starts on Oct.1, 2006, all federal preparedness funding will be conditioned upon full compliance with the NIMS.

All Montgomery CERT members are required to take the following two courses

Entry level first responders & disaster workers including volunteer personnel at all levels requires:
- IS-700: National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction
- IS-100: Introduction to Incident Command System (ICS)

Take IS-700: National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction first.

Both are available as interactive courses that you can take directly over the internet.

They are offered free-of-charge to CERT Members.

Each Independent Study Course includes lessons with practice exercises and a final examination. Students who score 75 percent or better are issued a certificate of achievement from EMI.
Course completion times for IS-700 and IS-100 vary from two to four hours each.

Please refer to the help screens and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) pages at the FEMA training site if you have any questions regarding these courses.

Link to FEMA Independent Study Program: IS-700 National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction

Link to FEMA Independent Study Program: IS-100 Introduction to Incident Command System, I-100

Please refer to the help screens and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) pages at the FEMA training site if you have any questions regarding these courses.

Additional training

FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) - Link

The NIMS Integration Center strongly recommends that volunteers with a direct role in emergency and incident management and response take NIMS and ICS training. The amount of training depends on the person's position level in response operations, as follows:

Entry Level
* FEMA IS-700: NIMS, An Introduction
* IS-100: Introduction to ICS or equivalent

First Line, Single Resource, Field Supervisors
* IS-700, IS-100 and IS-200: Basic ICS or its equivalent

Middle Management: Strike Team Leaders, Division Supervisors, EOC Staff, etc.
* IS-700, IS-800 NRP, IS-100, IS-200 and in FY07, IS-300

Command and General Staff; Area, Emergency and EOC Managers
* IS-700, IS-800, IS-100, IS-200 and in FY07, IS-300 and IS-400
 

Click here for a a comprehensive list of training and education resources available from FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI)

Montgomery County Maryland Community Emergency Response Team website