Bikewer
Penultimate Amazing
I've been in "campus" law enforcement for 25 years, after doing 10 years with the local county police. (yes, I am that old) Like everyone else, we had a spate of training and equipment purchase post 9/11, including moon suits, masks, and all that.
For many years, emergency responders have used a system of oganization called the Incident Command System. This started out as a fairly simple way to organize response to large-scale incidents of any sort, which might include disasters and terrorist acts.
The idea is to get everyone (fire, police, etc) on the same page and under the same command. This has generally worked well, though 9/11 showed the idea's weaknesses.
Part of this whole idea is to "identify resources" (that's me, I'm a "resource") so that proper plans can be made. You might be able to see where this is all going...
Post-Katrina, most all law enforcement officers have to take a test on the ICS, same to be submitted to and graded by a branch of FEMA. Upon passing this, we are rewarded with a little certificate which says that I have
"reaffirmed a dedication to serve in times of crisis through continued professional development and completion of this course".
Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy...
I noted that the training material was considerably more complicated that the last course I took at the local academy, probably an adjunct of government getting their hands on same.
This is not enough, however. The nice folks at FEMA (whoever they might be currently) have developed a National version of this same idea, which is called NIMS (national incident management system). We were all required to read through an extensive training handout and take yet another online test.
Now, if I thought the state-level system had gotten more complex, you should see what happened after the Feds got hold of it. Lots of impressive-sounding buzz words enjoining us to establish this, coordinate that, mitigate whatever, (one of my fellow officers asked me what "mitigate" meant) and so forth. This led me to see a bunch of "incident commanders" all standing around the command post with a cheat-sheet to try to figure out what they were supposed to be doing.
Oh, I got another certificate as well. It's identical to the first one.
Don't worry, you are all in good hands.
For many years, emergency responders have used a system of oganization called the Incident Command System. This started out as a fairly simple way to organize response to large-scale incidents of any sort, which might include disasters and terrorist acts.
The idea is to get everyone (fire, police, etc) on the same page and under the same command. This has generally worked well, though 9/11 showed the idea's weaknesses.
Part of this whole idea is to "identify resources" (that's me, I'm a "resource") so that proper plans can be made. You might be able to see where this is all going...
Post-Katrina, most all law enforcement officers have to take a test on the ICS, same to be submitted to and graded by a branch of FEMA. Upon passing this, we are rewarded with a little certificate which says that I have
"reaffirmed a dedication to serve in times of crisis through continued professional development and completion of this course".
Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy...
I noted that the training material was considerably more complicated that the last course I took at the local academy, probably an adjunct of government getting their hands on same.
This is not enough, however. The nice folks at FEMA (whoever they might be currently) have developed a National version of this same idea, which is called NIMS (national incident management system). We were all required to read through an extensive training handout and take yet another online test.
Now, if I thought the state-level system had gotten more complex, you should see what happened after the Feds got hold of it. Lots of impressive-sounding buzz words enjoining us to establish this, coordinate that, mitigate whatever, (one of my fellow officers asked me what "mitigate" meant) and so forth. This led me to see a bunch of "incident commanders" all standing around the command post with a cheat-sheet to try to figure out what they were supposed to be doing.
Oh, I got another certificate as well. It's identical to the first one.
Don't worry, you are all in good hands.
