In November 2007, I published in this column the perceived overdosing of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) classes and the adverse affects upon volunteer based emergency services. That particular column seemed to be a hit nationwide and reader feedback was very positive. Now I have more observations, we are not training some groups and this can impede our success.
Media training
The media: I do not care if it is your local weekly paper, the regional radio station or television; they have been left out of the mix. I could not find any national or state standard requiring the media to attend any training of this type. We trust them to have their media credentials and that is about it. In law enforcement, we must dance with the media. It is not press relations but rather public relations which we dispense. In other words, we need to work with them. They can be our allies in handling the public information from an event.
During an incident we herd the media to a press area. We corral them up and expect them to understand our latest ICS jargon that is sprinkled in the press conference. We tell them we are now in DEFCON 2 and setting up for OPCON 3, and totally expect them to understand what this new mix of acronyms and jargon means. We give out a situational report (SITREP) with new terms that they do not understand. They used to know the fire chief's first name and now he is on incident command. I spoke to one colleague of mine and his agency was preparing to offer training for the media in these areas. No, their's is not a formal course but a brief overview of what the new terms, requirements, mission and working orders would be. His view on this is that if the media understand the new command requirements, then they would understand the gravity of the situation better. Better understanding would equate to better working relationships. Should your media wish to take an on-line course I would recommend the IS-702 National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) Public Information Systems.
School and Educators
Yes, there are training courses available on-line for the educational systems. The big questions here are how many have taken any of these for that matter and best yet understood or applied the concepts. Stop and think about the schools. We have been preparing for the active shooter nationwide. Any incident that includes an in-session school campus is ripe for incident command. Most regional response plans also involve schools as shelters, rally points, or dispersion centers for material. Does your school staff or board understand the concepts? Probably not.
Here again, the educators are bound by contact hours, nobody gets left behind and testing scores. Their teacher work days are already filled with other requirements. How you present this idea will be your best call and a test of the relations your department has with your educators. But, they need to have a working understanding on these topics. One suggestion a reader sent me on this is brilliant. Most all schools have IDs that school staff wear about their necks. Add on the lanyard an ICS card the same size of the ID with information that they need to know if the time arises. One laminated card does not cost that much and carries great information. For school staff there is the IS-100.SC Introduction to the Incident Command System, I-100, for Schools and IS-362 Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools.
Citizens in the mix
I am not speaking of training the greater populous, but those citizens in the mix of your department's success. You know them without many suggestions. They may be police volunteers, local helping agencies that are there for support and some businesses that you rely upon. It could be the contractors that do some work for the department or jurisdiction. Yes, there are on-line courses available for them to take but do they even know where to start. A general, brief meeting with them can enlighten these police supporters. They will understand the gravity of the situation and know how and where to respond if they receive the call in the middle of the night.
If you have a Citizens Police Academy this one topic could reach all involved. Most departments that still offer CPAs have not reevaluated the curriculum in some time. A night of NIMS and ICS would be something that the participants would understand. Once again, there are on-line citizen courses. I am not talking about certifying them but creating an overview. Afterward they would have a basic understanding and would know how to better support you. The school and media could be invited to this night as well and bridge all the gaps with one presentation. I recommend two on-line courses: first IS-22 Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness and IS-394.A Protecting Your Home or Small Business From Disaster for your citizens' basic on-line course.
I am not trying to create a monster for your departmental trainers. But, for you to be successful in a natural, manmade or terrorism event you must have proper support. There are those who are peripherals to your operation and their understanding is a key to your success. No, we cannot educate the masses but we can present this to those who are going to be there with us.
