TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3 EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.
ARES BULLETIN NR 16.12 DATE: March 20, 2016
SUBJECT: WHAT IS NIMS?
NIMS is an acronym for National Incident Management System. NIMS is a standard protocol for operating the ICS (Incident Command System) at emergencies and disasters. If you learn about NIMS and ICS, you should be able to go anywhere in the country and operate with other organizations with little or no trouble.
To learn about NIMS and ICS, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has training courses that are free, and can be taken on the Internet. The basic courses are: ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-700, and ICS-800. As the courses are upgraded they are given a letter such as ICS-100A or ICS-100B.
A lot of City, County, and State Emergency Agencies are now requiring all of their employees, and volunteers who work with them, to complete the four basic courses. If you are a volunteer and want to work with emergency agencies, you may be required to take the courses, otherwise, they may now want your help.
You can find the courses by searching the Internet or going to the www.wc8ec.org or www.wc8ec.com website and click on training. Don't be left out in the cold, if you are wanting to help during emergencies and disasters, take the training and learn about NIMS and ICS.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WV ARES District 3 Emergency Coordinator
WCEC
Wood County WV