Training for emergencies on campus is following the nationally recognized Incident Command System, based on the National Incident Management System (NIMS). This system provides a consistent nation-wide approach for Federal, State, local and tribal government, as well as private-sector and nongovernmental organizations, to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity. Homeland Security is the federal agency responsible for the NIMS process, and has identified the ICS as being composed of multiagency coordination systems, training, identification and management of resources, qualification and certification of participants and ultimately the collection, tracking and reporting of incident information and incident resources.
In 2015 through 2018, faculty and staff members of Fort Lewis College participated in several training courses, including NIMS 700, ICS 100 h.e. and ICS 200. Additionally, the Fort Lewis College Police Department has participated in advanced training, and the Chief of Police has the qualifications to be the Incident Commander on campus if the need arises.
Training is attended in Durango by members of Fort Lewis College to insure competency in ICS and to be part of the county-wide ICS team. The campus is used for training exercises in this regard, and we hope to expand our partnership with La Plata County in the future.
Anyone interested in learning more about ICS should contact the Director of EH&S @ 6926 or the Chief of Police, Fort Lewis College @ 7491.
Information on FEMA, NIMS and ICS can be found on the Federal Emergency Management Agency website at www.fema.gov.
If you are interested in taking courses on-line go to the FEMA website.