As individuals and communities we can never be too prepared for emergencies. During any major disaster or any major incident that involves multiple agencies there is a need for a common framework of terminology and operations guidelines.

Incident Command System or ICS, is used by the emergency services community to provide a system to determine who is in command and what duties everyone is expected to perform. RESA 8 recently offered a combined National Incident Management System (NIMS) ICS 300 and 400 class in Jefferson County.

Individuals attended representing six (6) agencies: National Weather Service, VA Medical Center, Jefferson County ESA, Jefferson County 911, Jefferson County Maintenance and US Navy.

Individuals attending were Christopher Strong, Kyle Struckmann, Sarah Telstra, Tamara Natalie Trafford, Kenneth Widelski, Anderew Yenckko, Merri McIntyre, Jessica Owens, William Polk and Joshua Sneathern.

National Incident Management System, or NIMS, is an advanced system to provide for establishing incident command at major incidents. FEMA has created various levels of training for anyone involved in incident command. The combined ICS 300 and 400 class is an intense 24 hours of classroom training and exercises.

There was no charge for the class because costs were covered through a grant from the WV Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

For more information, contact Public Service training Coordinator, David Plume at RESA 8 at 304-267-3595, ext. 112, or 1-800-367-3728, ext. 112. You can get more information online at www.resa8.org.