nims/ics/nrp

[chiefswife1]

i was just wondering if anybody that read the program guidance got the same message as i did. or if i read more into it than needed to be. does all members of a fire dept that apply for a federal grant have to take these classes or is it just the chain of command. since i done the 2004 grant and now the 2005 grant i went ahead and took these classes and passed each one. (waiting on certs. now.) just in case our grant manager contacted us to see if anyone was certified. any info would be helpful.

thanks,
Jamie

[tk1918]

It appears that they've backed down some on NIMS. You will be required, if awarded, to agree to be compliant with NIMS by July '06. They originally wanted every active member to be certified in IS700 by July '06, but now you just have to agree to meet their deadline and who knows when that will be. I'm going to put our guys through the IS700 soon, just to get it done.
The Unified Command is for 'anyone who could assume command on a scene', which is about 8 hours of training. For our department, which is a small rural volunteer department, any active member could potentially be in charge (at least until an officer shows up), so we'll all have to take this as well.
Don't worry about it too much though. If you decide to take the IS700 now, then you're one step ahead of the rest.
Good luck!!

[Spencer534]

I'm still unsure about the NIMS stuff also. I read on the NIMS website, and our state NIMS coordinator is saying, that all first responders will have to be have IS700 by September 30, 2005. This was at www.fema.gov/nims/nims.shtm on Friday March 25. It also lists several other criteria necessary to comply. We are putting all of our fire/EMS department, law enforcement, and emergency management people throught the self-study by September.

[tk1918]

What I found was a letter graced with President Bush's signature, dated Dec. 17, 2003, stating that we would have to be in compliance by the September 30, 2005 date you stated. That's old news. I would actually call the help desk and go by what they're telling everyone. There's too much inconsistency.

[Spencer534]

tk

You are so right. It would be nice if there was one source of information, but this is the government.

[fireguy919]

our ema is setting up nims class. from what ems is telling us 75 percent of the active members of the fire department have to be nims certified