The American Red Cross of Dutchess County encourages all members of our staff and volunteers to complete and having a working knowledge of both ICS and NIMS.

While not currently required at the National level all the agencies that we interact with including federal, state, county, emergency services, law enforcement and fire services are required to operate using the ICS and NIMS.

These courses can be completed online through the EMI Learning Site.

ICS (Incident Command System)

The ICS is a management system designed to enable effective and efficient domestic incident management by integrating a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common organizational structure, designed to enable effective and efficient domestic incident management.

A basic premise of ICS is that it is widely applicable. It is used to organize both near-term and long-term field-level operations for a broad spectrum of emergencies, from small to complex incidents, both natural and manmade.

ICS is used by all levels of government—Federal, State, local, and tribal—as well as by many private-sector and nongovernmental organizations. ICS is also applicable across disciplines. It is normally structured to facilitate activities in five major functional areas: command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance and administration.

NIMS (National Incident Management System)

To prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies, the United States Government shall establish a single, comprehensive approach to domestic incident management.

The objective of the United States Government is to ensure that all levels of government across the Nation have the capability to work efficiently and effectively together, using a national approach to domestic incident management.

Recommended Training

To get started: select IS-100, you will be taken to FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) website, then choose option 1 - EMI Learning Site.

IS-100 Introduction to the Incident Command System, introduces the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides the foundation for higher level ICS training. This course describes the history, features and principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System. It also explains the relationship between ICS and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

IS-700 NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents.

 

Advanced Training

IS-200 is designed to enable personnel to operate efficiently during an incident or event within the Incident Command System (ICS). ICS-200 provides training on and resources for personnel who are likely to assume a supervisory position within the ICS.

IS-800 The National Response Plan, or NRP, describes how the Federal Government will work in concert with State, local, and tribal governments and the private sector to respond to disasters.