It’s sad to say that in the past four and a half years of stumping for changes in ICS training, we have seen little progress. I was recently sent a response org chart developed by an agency that completely tore apart ICS and rebuilt it in a fundamentally different image. ICS is a standard. It … Continue reading ICS Training Sucks: A Revival
A great many of you are familiar with the piece I wrote in June called Incident Command System Training Sucks. In it, I identify that the foundational ICS courses (ICS-100 through ICS-400 – but especially ICS-300 and ICS-400) simply do not provide the skills training that emergency managers across all disciplines require to utilize the … Continue reading ICS Training Sucks… So Let’s Fix It
Just over a year ago, I posted my article Incident Command Training Sucks, which to date has been viewed almost 2000 times on the WordPress blog platform, alone. Since then, I’ve written several more times on the necessity to change the foundational ICS training curriculum in the US to programs that are focused on application … Continue reading ICS Training (Still) Sucks… One Year Later
A few days ago I had a bit of discussion with others on Twitter in regard to who actually has a need for ICS 400 training. I think a lot of people are taking the ICS 400 (Advanced ICS for Command and General Staff) course for the wrong reasons. While I’d never dissuade anyone from … Continue reading ICS 400 Training – Who Really Needs It?
Yep, I’m still at it. It seems with every post about the condition of Incident Command System training as we know it, I’m able to draw more people into our cause (aka the Crusade). While I’ve never espoused there to be an easy solution, the training that we currently provide for ICS falls well short … Continue reading A New Vision for ICS Training
Last month a colleague and I delivered the new ICS 300 and 400 courses for a client. If you’ve missed them, I have some early review notes and overall thoughts posted. Nothing gets you into the curriculum like teaching it, though. First, some credit to our course participants, who were extremely supportive in this delivery. They … Continue reading Conduct of the New ICS 300 and 400 Courses
Over the past week I’ve been neck deep in the updated ICS-300 and ICS-400 curriculum as I prepare to deliver these courses for a client. While these courses, especially the ICS-300, have made some significant improvements from past versions, I’ve found what I perceive to be another challenge, perhaps a gap, in our collective approach … Continue reading Teaching ICS – We’re not there yet
It’s been quite a while since I’ve last posted, but, as I’m sure many of my followers expected, the updated ICS training materials would bring me out of my absenteeism. For those not aware, in March of this year, FEMA released IS-200.c, an updated Basic ICS course; and earlier this week released updated ICS 300 … Continue reading Updated ICS Training Courses – a Critical Review
I came across an article yesterday posted on EMS1/AMU’s blog about EMS adopting an incident command system. It’s an article that leaves me with a lot of questions. I want to examine some individual statements within the article. “Many EMS providers lack training and awareness about implementing an incident command structure.” This is 100% … Continue reading We Only Need One ICS
Last week I wrote a piece on the Incident Support Model for Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). The article got a good amount of attention which prompted some dialogue both on and off line with a variety of practitioners. So for those who might be integrating this model into their plans, let’s consider what training might … Continue reading A Discussion on Training Needs for the EOC Incident Support Model
The Contrarian Emergency Manager 