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National Fire Academy Course to be hosted in Cass County

Last Updated on May 16, 2022 by Cass County Emergency Management Agency

Responders affiliated with Cass County public safety agencies will have the opportunity to participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Fire Academy Incident Safety Officer Course free of charge at the end of June. The course is being held at the Cass County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) thru support of the National Fire Academy and Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

Rocky Buffum, Director for Cass County EMA, indicated this offering was requested following the After Action Report/Improvement Plan Process associated with the annual Local Emergency Planning Committee Exercise in April. “Ensuring we have adequate response leadership trained to properly identify and communicate isolation and protection zones, acquire and equip appropriate Personal Protective Equipment for emergency responders and look out for the health and safety of personnel on scene is a top priority. This is an area where the evaluation team identified our county response efforts can be strengthened, and we want to take steps to address it as soon as possible.” The 16 hour course trains responders to fill the position of Incident Safety Officer within the Incident Command System.

Buffum further stated “this is why we do test and do exercises, we identify opportunities to make the system better and we move forward with initiatives to do so.”

While the credential issued comes from the National Fire Academy, responders from other disciplines may also benefit and are welcome to join in. There are no prerequisites to the training. Responders will need a Federal Emergency Management Agency Student ID (FEMA SID) which can be acquired here: https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid/register

They will also need an Indiana Department of Homeland Security Public Safety ID (PSID) number which can be obtained here if they do not already have one: https://www.in.gov/dhs/fire-and-building-safety/public-safety-identification-psid-information/

The course will be held over four evenings to maximize ability of both career and volunteer responders to attend. The course dates are Mondays and Thursdays from 6-10 each night, with the class meeting on June 20, 23, 27 and 30.

Those wishing to register should obtain the FEMA SID and Indiana PSID from the websites above, and then email that information to ema@co.cass.in.us. Questions can be directed to the same email address.

“Cass County EMA is excited to make this opportunity available at no cost to local responders.”

SOURCE: News release from Cass County Emergency Management Agency

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