NLC Offers Emergency Management Training to Local Officials

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is collaborating with NLC on the project, with support from the Department of Homeland Security.

A series of pilot seminars will begin March 14-15 in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with NLC’s annual Congressional City Conference.  Subsequent pilot seminars are scheduled for May 8-9 in Chicago; July 13-14 in Mobile, Ala.; and Sept. 21-22 in Bismarck, N.D. The program is expected to offer several more seminars in 2010, focusing on metropolitan, rural and collaborative leadership.

Local leaders will learn their roles in emergency management and will receive an overview in preparing for, responding to and recovering from any type of emergency, disaster or terrorist event. Participants will learn to identify hazards unique to their community, analyze their community’s emergency management structure and find available resources to support local officials’ responsibilities before, during and after an emergency or crisis.

Each day-and-a-half seminar will address the four missions of emergency management: prevention, protection, response and recovery.

The program supports the Department of Homeland Security’s National Preparedness Goals of meeting specific national priorities of expanded regional collaboration, strengthening information sharing and collaboration and interoperability communications.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano recently issued an action directive requiring the Department of Homeland Security to work more closely with state, local and tribal governments.  The Department will solicit input on critical infrastructure, grant making, interoperability, intelligence collection and dissemination and emergency services.