Michael D. Brown, under secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, announced today the release of the new IS-200 Basic Incident Command System course for Federal Disaster Workers and all emergency personnel with disaster response duties.

“We continue to design and deliver educational materials to support basic Incident Command System knowledge and the National Incident Management System,” said Brown. “President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge continue to move the nation rapidly toward the implementation of a National Incident Management System, and FEMA continues to rapidly develop the support materials for this national initiative.”

This course is designed to identify ICS features and principles, describing in more detail elements such as: establishment and transfer of command, management by objectives, unified command, ICS management functions, organizational flexibility, unity and chain of command, span of control, incident action plans, resource management, common terminology and clear text, integrated communications and personnel accountability. A disaster scenario threads throughout the course to describe the common responsibilities associated with incident assignments from a federal disaster response workforce perspective.

It was developed to compliment the I-100 course for Federal Disaster Workers, and to take the student’s education to the ICS 200 level. The specific target audience is the FEMA disaster response workforce and others involved in disaster response to the Incident Command System. IS-200 does not replace the IS-195 Basic ICS course, but serves as a companion especially developed for federal disaster workers.

Register and complete the course online on the NETC Virtual Campus at http://training.fema.gov/emiweb.