When disaster strikes, it takes trained individuals to step up and perform the needed roles on an All-Hazards Incident Management Team (AHIMT). These teams are essential to planning and managing the resources needed to respond to all types of disasters and helping local governments when a large disaster overwhelms the local capacity to manage response.
Approximately 30 people from state, local and city governments, as well as some non-profit agencies, are training this week in a course in Fayetteville, to become members of these teams.
“Training and preparedness are key in emergency management, and this course helps train people with the skills needed to be certified for a position on one of these teams,” said Michael Sprayberry, Director of NC Emergency Management. “We have to be constantly preparing for the future, which is one of the reasons this course is so important. There is a need for qualified individuals who can help in other jurisdictions when the need arises.”
North Carolina has developed a national reputation for the quality of its incident management teams, which supported several North Carolina counties during the response to Hurricane Florence. North Carolina teams have also been called recently to serve out-of-state, after floods and tornadoes in Kansas, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and volcanic eruptions in Hawaii.
To facilitate the course, there are six instructors, two are the lead and four are mentors who help to facilitate teach lessons while also learning to lead the course. The students are broken into three teams with two cadre members assigned to help them through the planning and problem solving processes. These include multiple exercises each day where they are working on a variety of tasks including the development and execution of a daily Incident Action Plan.
Many of the participants will pursue additional training in a specific functional area, whether that’s in operations, logistics, planning or other areas.
WHAT: All Hazards Incident Management Team Training
WHEN: June 24-28, 2019
WHERE: Cumberland County Department of Social Services
1225 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville, NC 28301