After being given a great training opportunity by Dr. Fadi Essmaeel, CEM, Homeland Security Director for U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA).
A highly experience team of emergency managers came to Congressman Rohrbacher's district from Texas A&M University's Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX). TEEX is a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Domestic Preparedness Consortium. TEEX holds the sole contract from DHS to conduct training in the U.S. on managing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) incidents using the incident command system (ICS).
ICS is the federally mandated emergency mangement system. It is used in event as diverse as wildfires, haz-mat spills, WMD incidents, parades, and so on. Emergency management personnel are required to take these courses. Gradually all emergency workers, even volunteers, will be required to take basic ICS courses. ICS can be taken on line for free. However, TEEX offers this course as a live taught course that is delivered by TEEX instructional teams that travel the U.S. Management 313 is an intermediate ICS course. Recently Mgt 313 graduates were given credit for IS-300, ICS' intermediate course. Mgt 313 starts Tuesday morning and goes until Thursday around 5pm. In that time, there will be a review of ICS and an overview of WMDs. Then the table top simulations will start. The final excercise will be geared for the locale the class is held in.
Participants can come first responder (police, fire, EMS) or emergency managers - sworn or civilian. There will be seats set aside for executives and their senior staff of potential major targets in Fairfax District. There will be a few seats reserved for senior CERT and amateur radio volunteers, and neighborhood leaders. There will also be seats set aside for the elected officals and senior staff of our good neighbors in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The majority of the class will be made up of first responders and emergency managers. Other people can come and learn, and play support roles in the simulation as the professionals gain experience.
Those interested in applying should email Dr. Cheng - certsponsor --at---gmail --dot-- com (convert --at-- to @, --dot-- to . fools spambots). The email should state the applicant's name, affilation, job title and responsibilities, relevant experience, how the training will benefit the greatest number of people.
Dr. Cliff Cheng has lived in Fairfax District since 1970. His worked in emergency preparedness started at Hancock Park School where he was on the junior fire department. At John Burroughs Jr. High School he earned his amateur radio license and has since 1975 been involved in providing emergency communication. At Fairfax High School he founded an amateur radio club. He founded the Neighborhood Emergency Radio Project www.NERP.myEweb.net which teaches peopel at the grassroots level what to do about emergency communication after the telephones, cellphones and internet fails. He teaches disaster preparedness and CPR/1st for the American Red Cross and serves as Neighborhood Preparedness Ambassador - a volunteer of the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness, and Neighborhood Empowerment Departments www.disasterprep.livejournal.com. As Preparedness Ambassador, he sponsors free CERT (Community Emerngecy Response Team) classes each semester. He is also a CERT instructor. He is a former Los Angeles City Commissioner of Human Relations.