Monday, August 18, 2014

2015 Preparedness Summit. Global Health Security: Preparing a Nation for Emerging Threats. April 14-17, 2015. Call for Abstracts

Abstracts are now being accepted for the 2015 Preparedness Summit

This year’s Summit will take place April 14–17, 2015 in Atlanta.

The 2015 Preparedness Summit will explore the theme, “Global Health Security: Preparing a Nation for Emerging Threats.”

The Summit provides one of the only cross-disciplinary learning opportunities in the field of preparedness and provides a unique opportunity to cross-pollinate ideas about global health security among attendees that include professionals working in local, state, and federal levels of government, emergency management, volunteer organizations, and healthcare coalitions. 


Join the distinguished list of Preparedness Summit presenters and submit an abstract for the 2015 Preparedness 

Summit today! 

Abstracts addressing issues such as climate change, extreme weather, cybersecurity, and emerging infectious disease outbreak response are encouraged. 

Abstracts are open now through 11:59PM PDT on Sept. 23, during National Preparedness Month. 













Black Emergency Managers Association  

1231  Good Hope Road  S.E.

Washington, D.C.  20020

Office:   202-618-9097 

bEMA 

“Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” ― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Continuity of Operations Excellence Series, Level I – Professional Continuity Practitioner and Level II – Master Professional Continuity Practitioner,

Over the past six years, National Continuity Programs (NCP) and the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) have developed and fielded continuity training to enhance the development and implementation of Federal and non-Federal Continuity Programs.  The Continuity of Operations Excellence Series, Level I – Professional Continuity Practitioner and Level II – Master Professional Continuity Practitioner, was established in coordination with EMI in April 2008 to enhance the excellence in Continuity Training Programs.

Effective 1 October 2014, the following two courses will be required as part of Level I:

IS 248: Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) for the American Public
IS 545: Reconstitution Planning Workshop

IS 248: Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS):
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Program Management Office designed this course to provide the American Public with an introduction to IPAWS. It identifies the key features and benefits of IPAWS and the authorities responsible for sending alert and warning messages. It also describes the actions you can take before and during an emergency to protect yourself and your loved ones.  As a continuity program manager this can be a trigger to activate your continuity plan.

IS 545:  Reconstitution Planning Workshop:
This course is based on the guidance to the Federal Executive Branch departments and agencies for developing Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plans and Programs. The purpose of the Reconstitution Planning Workshop is to assist Federal Department and Agency, State, local, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions with the importance of developing effective and comprehensive reconstitution planning.

Effective immediately, the following change has been made for Level II requirement due to the increase number of independent study courses available.  NCP has decreased the instructing/facilitating requirement from two courses to one course.

Instruct/Facilitate one of the following:

E/L/G 548: Continuity of Operations Manager’s T-t-T Course
E/L 550: Continuity of Operations Planner’s T-t-T Workshop
E/L/G 551: Devolution Planning Workshop
E/L 554: Determined Accord Pandemic Preparedness Workshop  
E/L 553: Resilient Accord Workshop
E/L 556: Guardian Accord Workshop
E/L 549: Reconstitution Planning Workshop
E/L 557: MEF Workshop
E/L 141: Instructional Presentation & Evaluation Skills Course


FEMA NCP Training


Level I - Professional Continuity Practitioner Requirements

§  IS 546.a: Continuity of Operations Awareness Course

§  IS 547.a: Introduction to Continuity of Operations

§  IS 242.a or equivalent E/L/G course: Effective Communication

Complete one of the following:

§  E/L/G 548 or IS 548: Continuity of Operations Program Managers T-t-T Course
§  G 549: Continuity of Operations Program Manager Course
§  MGT 331 University of Maryland Preparing the States Continuity Course

Complete one of the following:

§  E/L/G 550 or IS 524: Continuity of Operations Planner’s T-t-T Workshop
§  L 552: Continuity of Operations for Tribal Government Course

Complete one of the following:

§  IS 100.b: Intro to Incident Command System (ICS)
§  ICS 100: Introduction to Incident Command System (ICS)
§  ICS 200: Incident Command System (ICS) 
§  IS 200.b:  Incident Command System (ICS) for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents

§  E/L 549 or IS 545: Reconstitution Planning Workshop

§  IS 248: Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) for the American Public

§  IS 230.c: Fundamentals of Emergency Management or equivalent E/L/G course: Principles of Emergency Management


§  IS 700.a: Intro to National Incident Management System (NIMS)

§  IS 800.b: A National Response Framework (NRF), An Introduction
Complete one of the following:

§  E 136: Exercise Development Course  (limited to EMI Resident MEPP candidates)
§  IS 139: Exercise Design
§  E/L 547: Continuity Exercise Design Course (CEDC)

Complete one of the following:

§  E/L 554:  Pandemic Influenza (PI) Determined Accord Workshop
§  IS 520: Introduction to Continuity of Operations Planning for Pandemic Influenzas and IS 522: Exercising Continuity Plans for Pandemic Course (both Independent Study courses are required)
§  E/L 553 or IS 523: Resilient Accord Cyber Security Planning Workshop
§  E/L 556 or IS 525: Guardian Accord Terrorism Awareness Workshop
§  E/L 557 or IS 526: MEF Workshop

§  NARA/CoSA Vital Records Training (optional, recommended) – www.nara.gov



Level II - Master Continuity Practitioner Requirements

§  Applicants must attain a Continuity Excellence Series – Level I, Professional Continuity Practitioner
§  IS 130: Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning or E 132 (limited to EMI Resident MEPP candidates) or
G130 Exercise Evaluation

§  IS 240.a or equivalent E/L/G course:  Leadership and Influence

§  E/L/G 551 or IS 551: Devolution Planning Workshop
Complete one of the following:

§  E/L 156 or IS 156: Building Design for Homeland Security T-t-T Course for Continuity of Operations
§  E/L 153: Building Design for Homeland Security for Continuity of Operations

Complete one of the following:

§  E/L 262: Instructional Delivery for Subject Matter Experts
§  G 265: Instructional Delivery Skills (formerly G 261: Instructional Presentation Skills)
§  E 605: Instructional Delivery
§  E/L 141: Instructional Presentation & Evaluation Skills Course

Instruct/Facilitate one of the following:

§  *E/L/G 548: Continuity of Operations Manager’s T-t-T Course
§  *E/L 550: Continuity of Operations Planner’s T-t-T Workshop
§  *E/L/G 551: Devolution Planning Workshop
§  *E/L 554: Determined Accord Pandemic Preparedness Workshop  
§  *E/L 553: Resilient Accord Workshop
§  *E/L 556: Guardian Accord Workshop
§  *E/L 549: Reconstitution Planning Workshop
§  *E/L 557: MEF Workshop
§  *E/L 141: Instructional Presentation & Evaluation Skills Course

§  *Written Comprehensive Exam (150 questions) – Applicants are eligible to take the comprehensive exam once they have completed all Level I and Level II requirements. A score of 70% is required for passing. 

* Please send email to FEMA-Continuity-Practitioner@fema.dhs.gov for additional information.

Previous EMI versions of courses listed are acceptable in lieu of current course version.

All Independent Study (IS) courses can found at http://training.fema.gov/is and by clicking on ISP COURSE LIST. 


Request Continuity Practitioner Certificates

·        Emergency Management Institute will issue all certificates
·        Level I and Level II requests must be accompanied by copies of all required course certificates or an official EMI transcript
·        Send certificate requests and copies of certificates or official EMI transcript to mailbox
DHS/FEMA/NCP/COOP, Attn: Training Manager, Room 515, 500 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20472-3154
·        Please include your name, organization, work address or home address, email address and phone number
·        Expect to wait up to 6 weeks to receive your certificate
Request to take Written Comprehensive Exam (150 questions)

·        You must have completed all requirements for Level I
·        You must have completed all requirements for Level II
·        Facilitating/Instructing Requirement – Provide an email or letter from Lead Instructor with
Course Title, Dates, and Course Location
·        Send copy of your Level I certificate, copy of Level II course certificates or official EMI transcript, and Facilitating/Instructing email or letter to mailbox FEMA-CONTINUITY-PRACTITIONER@DHS.GOV or mail to
DHS/FEMA/NCP/COOP, Attn: Training Manager, Room 515, 500 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20472-3154
·        Once all requirements are verified, a date to complete the Written Comprehensive Exam will be provided



Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Coping in Today's World: Community Psychological First Aid 8/22/2014 Hagerstown, Maryland.

AN UNRECOGNIZABLE ILLNESS........at a personal, family, community, and national level.

Are you, family, and community members under so much stress?

Ebola pandemic, climate change, race relations, water & food security issues, crime, violence in the Middle-East, the list goes on and on.


Check with your local public health agency\office for psychological first-aid training available. 


Title

Coping in Today's World: Community Psychological First Aid

Location

Region II - Hagerstown County

Start Time

8/22/2014 8:30 AM

End Time

8/22/2014 12:30 PM

Address

 American Red Cross
1131 Conrad Court
Hagerstown, MD 21740

The purpose of the Community Psychological Frist Aid is to provide a set of steps and actions to be used by responders, helping professionals, and lay persons to: 
•Strengthen their own psychological resilience and that of their children,
•Enhance their capacity to recognize stress in adults and children and how people react to it
•Provide immediate support and introduce coping skills to neighbors, friends and members of their families and others by using psychological first aid.
 
By drawing on Red Cross expertise, this course can help families, friends, and neighbors provide better emotional support to one another in times of stress, crisis and disaster. Persons completing this course will be able to provide and teach community residents how to apply PFA to themselves, family members, friends and neighbors during times of distress. 



Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Ebola and the Law: What You Need to Know, on Tuesday, August 12, 2014, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm (EDT).

Special Announcements

Ebola and the Law: What You Need to Know
The Network for Public Health Law (the Network), CDC’s Public Health Law Program (PHLP), and the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) are co-hosting a free webinar, Ebola and the Law: What You Need to Know, on Tuesday, August 12, 2014, from 1:00 to  2:30 pm (EDT). The webinar will describe the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, discuss legal issues that arise when infected patients enter  the US, and explore legal powers and duties health department personnel have if an Ebola outbreak occurs in the US. Speakers will accept questions from participants at the end of the presentation.  




https://networkforphl.webex.com/mw0401l/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=networkforphl&service=6&rnd=0.7606648965868854&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnetworkforphl.webex.com%2Fec0701l%2Feventcenter%2Fevent%2FeventAction.do%3FtheAction%3Ddetail%26confViewID%3D1749947180%26%26MK%3D668698095%26%26%26siteurl%3Dnetworkforphl




Monday, August 11, 2014

Joint Criminal and Epidemiological Investigation Workshop August 19, and August 21, 2014. Maryland Emergency Management Agency

Workshops are filling up. 
Members throughout the U.S., check with The Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness to schedule a workshop in your community.

Check with FBI on crime scene data\evidence collection, or investigation courses for first responders or follow-on responders.  (Review bullet #2 below).

All agencies working together and sharing information.

BEMA

REGION IV    -   COURSE DATE AND LOCATION
Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay
100 Heron Blvd
Cambridge, Maryland
               Tuesday, 8/19/2014   8:30 AM -  4:30 PM

REGION III    -   COURSE DATE AND LOCATION              
       STATUS:  CLOSED FULL CAPACITY
Mt. Washington Conference Center
5801 Smith Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21209
               Thursday, 8/21/2014   8:30 AM -  4:30 PM

MARYLAND Emergency Management Agency in conjunction with The Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness

Title
Maryland Forensic Epi Training
Description
JOINT CRIMINAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION WORKSHOP
The unique challenges of responding to a biological incident necessitate a high level of cooperation between law enforcement and public health officials during their respective investigations.  The Joint Criminal and Epidemiological Investigation Workshop is conducted by subject matter experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The purpose of the workshop is to train law enforcement and public health professionals how to work closely together for notification and information sharing purposes in order to successfully and rapidly respond to a suspected biological incident. 
While each discipline has distinctive investigative roles and responsibilities, there are common goals shared by law enforcement and public health that unite the two disciplines:
·       Early identification and notification that an event has occurred;
·       Rapid and ongoing assessment of whether an event is manmade or naturally-occurring; and
·       Protecting public health and public safety during a response.
Specific topics covered during the workshop include:
·       Roles, responsibilities, and authorities during a biological incident;
o   Law enforcement investigations and threat assessment
o   Public health epidemiological and medical investigations
·       Identification of assets and capabilities for each discipline;
·       Joint investigation models and protocols;
·       Demonstration of the types of information gathered by law enforcement and public health and how sharing information can advance both investigations; and
·       Best practices for conducting a joint law enforcement-public health interview.

At the conclusion of the workshop, students demonstrate how to conduct a joint investigation by participating in a scenario-based exercise designed to apply what they have learned during the course to include notification policies, initial threat assessment, analysis and sharing of data, identifying the threat, mitigating the threat and identifying the cause.
Students will receive a copy of the FBI/CDC Criminal and Epidemiological Investigation Handbook as well as other tools that can be shared with colleagues.  


Category
Training
Does this event need Registration?
Yes
Click Here to Register


August 2014. Getting on a U.S. Military Base Will Now Include an FBI Background Check

DOMESTIC

Getting on a U.S. Military Base Will Now Include an FBI Background Check

Members of the defense community, starting this Friday, automatically will be screened against the FBI’s criminal database when they try entering military installations and pulled aside if the system shows an arrest, felony or outstanding warrant.

The new Defense Department tool is part of a larger, government-wide effort to continuously vet people with access to secure facilities, following shootings at Fort Hood and the Navy Yard.
Identification smartcards issued to troops, veterans, relatives and other individuals permitted to enter military bases have long been checked against a DOD database before access is granted. But an instant FBI background check has never been part of the process.


Beginning this week, DOD’s information technology system will tap the FBI’s National Crime Information Center system. 

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