The Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency hosted a National Incident Management System training to prepare senior officials for incident management.
The three-hour specialized course was held in EMA’s Emergency Operations Center on Feb. 8. Those in attendance included: Board of Commissioners Chairman Harry Johnston, District 2 Commissioner Richard Weatherby, District 3 Commissioner Benny Carter, and County Manager Geoff Morton.
“The purpose of this course is to familiarize senior officials with their role in supporting incident management within the NIMS,” said Cherokee County EMA Director Daniel Westbrook.
“The class helped me better understand the standardized structure for dealing with small and large emergency events. This being my second time through the program, I was better able to lay out some hypothetical scenarios, and discuss their handling with the emergency management professionals and the other commissioners there. I also came away with a reinforced understanding that, like our other public safety services, Cherokee County is blessed with emergency management team that’s a second to none.”
Developed by the Department of Homeland Security in 2004, NIMS is the standardized approach to incident management and response. It establishes a uniform set of processes and procedures that emergency responders at all levels of government use to conduct response operations.
“Understanding NIMS is important because it allows responders at all levels to work together more effectively and efficiently to manage incidents no matter the cause, size or complexity,” said Westbrook. “It’s important to note that federal agencies also are required to use the NIMS framework in domestic incident management and in support of state and local incident response and recovery activities.”
In additional to the NIMS training, participants also learned about the organizational structure of the Incident Command System, command roles, the purpose of Emergency Operations Centers and the role of senior officials in preparedness.
