ICS & NIMS Mandatory Training

(ICS-( Incident Command System ) - NIMS-( National Incident Management System )

We have just been notified by the New York State Office of Homeland Security that, indeed, future federal grant funding to be received by our RACES - ARES organization, the local government and ultimately the State of New York , is being linked to federally mandated training .

All local, private sector and non-governmental personnel with a direct role in emergency management and response must be trained in defined levels of awareness of the Incident Command System (ICS) and implementation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). 

St. Lawrence County must certify to the state government that the county is compliant with the federal requirements.

What This Means For ARES - RACES Members

All members of ARES - RACES must have this training as follows:

Planning Committee Members must have the ICS-100, ICS-200, and ICS-700 training.
Field Operators (all others not on the committee) must have ICS-100 and ICS-700 training.     

For those individuals needing this mandated training the Office of Emergency Services will be sponsoring distance learning courses through BOCES and Canton College for the ICS 100 and IS-700 Courses in the not too distant future.

For those of you with computer on-line access, the ICS 100, ICS 200 and IS-700  courses are all available at the following FEMA web sites: 

 F or the convenience of your scheduling we highly recommend that you take advantage of the on-line course availability.

This training is not hard to do.  Go to the course you want on the website above and all of the information you will need is there.  Download the Study-Guide and the Exam.  It's an open book type exam.  Print out the exam and mark your answers.  Then go back on-line to the web site and take the test.  It will ask for your SS# as identification, (if you don't want to give your SS# on-line they give you an address to send it to via US. Mail).  Read this:  Your Social Security Number is used as your student identification number. This data is encrypted at the time it is entered on the form prior to transmission. It is maintained in a secure government database and not distributed to any other source. If you do not supply a Social Security Number (SSN), your test is not transmitted to our database. If you want FEMA to assign your account an alternate student ID number, send your request and a photocopy of your voter registration card, U.S. passport or birth certificate to:  EMI - Independent Study Program; 16825 South Seton Avenue; Emmitsburg, MD 21727-8998. You must wait to receive your student ID number before you submit your exam. You will then be able to use this nine-digit number in lieu of your SSN. Please be aware that this action can take several weeks.   After you submit the test you will be notified that you passed successfully and they will send you a certificate.  I will need a copy of your certificate for the files at the EOC.  This training must be completed by June 15th 2006.  

Please send a copy of your certificate to me at:

Kerry Bickford
76 county route 27 ext.
Oswegatchie, N.Y. 13670

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