Did you know that in PEARS there is an option to include FEMA courses in your 2024 Professional Development Plan (PD)? The FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI) has a catalog of Independent Study Courses (IS) - https://training.fema.gov/is/. Anyone can take these free online IS courses and they are also available in Spanish. If you want a certificate for your files, each course ends with a quiz, and to take it, you’ll need to register for a FEMA Student Identification Number - https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid (also free).
Here are just a few examples of courses in the catalog with estimated time to complete:
• Foundations of Climate Science (IS-1400) (1.25 hours)
• Including People with Disabilities in Disaster Operations (IS-368.A) (2 hours)
• Preparedness for Child Care Providers (IS-36.a) (2 hours)
• Social Media in Emergency Management (IS-42.a) (3 hours)
• Diversity Awareness 2024 (IS-20.24) (1 hour)
• Animals in Disasters: Awareness and Preparedness (4 hours)
Nebraska EDEN team (https://disaster.unl.edu/nebraska-eden) members are asked to complete the following two courses (IS100 and IS700). If you are also interested in having a better understanding of how incidents are managed and the common language used by emergency management, these courses are recommended:
• Introduction to the Incident Command System, ICS 100 (IS-100.C) (2 hours) - https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-100.c&lang=en
• An Introduction to the National Incident Management System (IS-700.B) (3.5 hours) - https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-700.b&lang=en
For those who have also added, or plan to add, the Nebraska EDEN State Action Plan to your Individual Action Plan, you can report these types of efforts as an outcome. #NE-EDEN.
Submitted by Soni Cochran, scochran2@unl.edu