NA: 004-06

NIMS Integration Center, March 7, 2006

NIMS-Integration-Center@dhs.gov

202-646-3850

Our Top Five Most Frequently Asked Questions

WASHINGTON – The NIMS Integration Center’s five most frequently asked questions, which are posed primarily via e-mail, focus on required NIMS training, lost or delayed NIMS/ICS training certifications from the Emergency Management Institute, and NIMCAST temporary passwords.

In the interest of providing the information most relevant to our audiences we have decided to repeat those questions and our answers in this NIMS Alert. We also urge you to check our FAQ site, which is directly accessible from the NIMS Homepage at www.fema.gov/nims; it is updated frequently based on your questions.

Who has to take NIMS and ICS training?

All federal, state, local, tribal, private sector and non-governmental personnel with a direct role in emergency management and response must be NIMS and ICS trained. This includes all emergency services related disciplines such as EMS, hospitals, public health, fire service, law enforcement, public works/utilities, skilled support personnel, and other emergency management response, support and volunteer personnel, as follows:

Entry Level

§         FEMA IS-700: NIMS, An Introduction

§         ICS-100: Introduction to ICS or equivalent

First Line, Single Resource, Field Supervisors

§         IS-700, ICS-100 and ICS-200: Basic ICS or its equivalent

Middle Management: Strike Team Leaders, Division Supervisors, EOC Staff, etc.

§         IS-700, IS-800 NRP, ICS-100, ICS-200 and in FY07, ICS-300

Command and General Staff; Area, Emergency and EOC Managers§         IS-700, IS-800, ICS-100, ICS-

200 and in FY07, ICS-300 and ICS-400

What about elected officials?

The NIMS Integration Center strongly recommends that all elected official who will be interacting with multiple jurisdictions and agencies during an emergency incident at the minimum, complete IS-700: NIMS, An Introduction and ICS-100: Introduction to ICS. These courses provide a basic understanding of the National Incident Management System and the Incident Command System. Everyone directly involved in managing an emergency should understand the command reporting structures, common terminology and roles and responsibilities inherent in a response operation.

What training do I need to be an ICS instructor?

All lead ICS instructors should have training and experience in adult education and have served as Incident Commander or in a command staff or general staff position. Specific requirements for ICS-100 through ICS-400 are as follows:

ICS-100

• ICS-100 Lead and Unit Instructors should have successfully completed ICS-100, ICS-200 and IS-700.

• ICS-200 Lead Instructor should have successfully completed ICS-300. Unit Instructors should have successfully completed ICS-200.

ICS-300

·            ICS-300 Lead Instructor should have successfully completed ICS-400, have served as served as Incident Commander or in a command staff or general staff position in an incident that went beyond one operational period or required a written Incident Action Plan (IAP). Unit Instructors should have successfully completed ICS-300, have served as served as Incident Commander or in a command staff or general staff position; or, have specialized knowledge and experience appropriate for the audience, such as public health or public works.

ICS-400 Instructors

• ICS-400 Instructors should have successfully completed ICS-400 and IS-800 National Response Plan.  Lead Instructor should have served as served as Incident Commander or in a command staff or general staff position in an incident that required multi-agency coordination and went beyond one operational period or required a written IAP. Unit Instructors must have served as served as Incident Commander or in a command staff or general staff position in an incident that went beyond one operational period or required a written IAP; or, have specialized knowledge and experience for the audience, such as public health or public works.

An instructor’s qualifications must be verified by the agency sponsoring the training.

I still have not received my IS-700 training certificate. Who can I call?

Contact the Emergency Management Institute's Independent Study Office at 301-447-1200.

I’ve tried logging on NIMCAST and my password doesn’t work. What can I do?

If you have received a temporary password you will need to log into your account within 24 hours and change your password.  If it has been more than 24 hours since you received your password, you can have a new password e-mailed to you by clicking on the "Generate a new temporary password" option on the NIMCAST login page.   Remember, new passwords must be at least eight characters long and must contain at least one of each of the following: lower case character (a-z); upper case character (A-Z); special character (!, @, #, $, %, etc ...); and a digit (0-9). Be sure to input your password exactly, it is case sensitive.