The National Incident Management System Integration Center has released guidelines to help training providers ensure their Incident Command System training meets NIMS requirements.

The NIMS National Standard Curriculum: Training Development Guidance outlines the NIMS system’s ICS concepts and principles, management characteristics, organizations and operations, organizational element titles and recommendations for a model curriculum. It also provides an evaluation checklist for content that may be used to make sure that ICS training meets the “as taught by DHS” standard.

The model NIMS ICS curriculum organizes four levels of training -– ICS-100, Introduction to ICS; ICS-200, Basic ICS; ICS-300, Intermediate ICS; and ICS-400, Advanced ICS. ICS training provided by the Emergency Management Institute, the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard follow this model, said the NIC.

According to the NIC, emergency management and response personnel already ICS trained do not need retraining if their previous training is consistent with the DHS standard. This would include courses managed, administered or delivered by the Emergency Management Institute, the National Fire Academy, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard, the NIMS Center said.

Initially, the curriculum will be made up of NIMS awareness training and training to support ICS. Eventually the NIC will expand to include all NIMS training requirements, including training established to meet national credentialing standards. DHS expects full NIMS compliance by federal, state and local agencies by the end of fiscal year 2006.

Minimum requirements to be accomplished in the 2005 fiscal year include

• Completing the NIMS Awareness Course: “National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction” (IS 700).

• Formally recognizing the NIMS and adopting NIMS principles and policies.

• Establishing a NIMS baseline by determining which NIMS requirements you already meet.

• Establishing a timeframe and developing a strategy for full NIMS implementation.

• Institutionalizing the use of the Incident Command System.

For more information about NIMS ICS e-mail the NIMS-Integration-Center@dhs.gov, or call 202-646-3850.