The Department of Homeland Security has announced the approval
of additional preparedness training courses for emergency
responders through its office of state and local government
coordination and preparedness, and the department’s U.S. fire
administration, which is designed to minimize emergency related
losses.
The courses offered by USFA and the National Fire Academy include
an introduction to unified command for multi-agency and
catastrophic incidents, “all hazards incident management,” and
“command and general staff functions in the incident command
system,” said DHS.
It said states and urban areas may use funding from the homeland
security grant program, and the urban area security initiative to
conduct or attend the courses.
States and urban areas can also use the funding, “to reimburse
overtime and backfill costs associated with attending these
courses as well as other SLGCP approved courses. The HSGP and
UASI funding constitutes $6 billion of the total $8 billion in
funding allocated or awarded by DHS to state and local governments
and first responders since its creation on March 1, 2002,”
said DHS.
