Member Training: FEMA Incident Command/NIMS/NRP Courses (IS-100/200/700/800)

One of the first things we tell many new members to do is to start work on your "FEMA classes" or your "ICS" courses. We do this for a number of reasons:

1. Many qualifications require two or more of these courses.
2. You can take them right away, there is no need to wait for your member number.
3. They get new members started with something substantive but, as they are produced by FEMA for a wide audience, something that does not require any specific knowledge of the Coast Guard or the Auxiliary.
4. (This is my secret reason) These courses encourage use of plain English and they encourage new members to ask questions when we fall into our own particular patois, "Auxiliaristesse". 

While there are many offerings from the FEMA Emergency Management Institute Independent Study program we are usually referring to four courses when speaking to new members:

• IS-100.a: Introduction to Incident Command System - This course 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).
• IS-700.a: National Incident Management System (NIMS) An Introduction - This course introduces and overviews the 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.

• IS-200.a: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents - This course is designed to enable personnel to operate efficiently during an incident or event within the Incident Command System (ICS). ICS-200 provides training on and resources for personnel who are likely to assume a supervisory position within the ICS. 
• IS-800.b : National Response Framework, An Introduction - The course introduces participants to the concepts and principles of the National Response Framework.

These courses can be found here: http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp

The courses are conducted by self study and include online testing. The suggested order is 100, 700, 200 and finally 800. Your mentor and member training officer will work with you to determine which courses to take but there is no harm in completing the entire series as time permits - the completion does not expire.

Please note that completion of these courses is not communicated to the Auxiliary. To get these classes properly entered into your record please forward the completion email you receive to the Flotilla Commander and the FC will send it on to Charles Claytor in the D13 Auxiliary Office for entry. (Policy in other Flotilla may be different)

Please print and retain a copy of your certificate. It is also very helpful to retain a copy of the email from the FEMA Emergency Management Institute.