IEMA-OHS: The Building Blocks of Professional Development

Individuals enter the emergency management profession with diverse backgrounds and training, many of which do not directly align with the broad responsibilities required of today’s emergency management professionals. To address this gap, seven online courses and six discussion‑based classroom courses were developed as part of the Illinois Professional Development Series (PDS). These courses cover a wide range of topics relevant to the emergency management field.

The discussion‑based courses are designed to complement the online curriculum by providing opportunities to:

• Demonstrate skills introduced in the online modules
• Engage face‑to‑face with emergency management professionals     from various local and state     jurisdictions
• Build cross‑disciplinary understanding among  first responders,fostering more efficient collaboration during future exercises and real‑world incidents

To receive the Illinois PDS Certificate, which is required for the IPEM application, all of the following courses must be completed:

• IS-120 An Introduction to Exercises
• IS-230 Fundamentals of Emergency Management
• IS-235 Emergency Planning
• IS-240 Leadership and Influence
• IS-241 Decision Making and Problem Solving
• IS-242 Effective Communication
• IS-244​ Developing and Managing Volunteers​
• IS-2200 Basic Emergency Operations Center Functions

(For additional information about IEMA's training courses, please visit http://public.iema.state.il.us/iema/training/Courselisting.asp)

• 101: Foundations of Emergency Management
• 102: Science of Disaster
• 103: Planning: Emergency Operations
• 105: Public Information Basics
• 146: Homeland Security Exercise & Evaluation Program: HSEEP

These courses may be taken in any order over an unspecified time.

(For additional information about IEMA's training courses, please visit http://public.iema.state.il.us/iema/training/Courselisting.asp)

Part I of the PDS: Complete all 4 courses

• G191: ICS/EOC Interface
• G205: Recovery from Disaster: The Local Community Role
• G288: Local Volunteer & Donation Management
• G2300: Intermediate Emergency Operations Center Functions

These courses may be taken in any order over an unspecified time.

Part II of the PDS: Complete 3 of the 10 workshops

• Community Lifelines
• Continuous Improvement
• Damage Assessment
• Debris Management
• Exercise Design- Discussion-Based Exercise
• Exercise Design- Operation-Based Exercise
• Illinois Capability Assessment & THIRA Tool (IL-CATT) and Integrated Preparedness Plan (IPP)
• SWIC- Interoperable Workshop
• The Illinois Plan for Radiological Accident (IPRA)- Lessons Learned and How it May Benefit Your Program
• WebEOC

Completion of all required FEMA Independent Study courses, the FEMA Basic Academy, and the IEMA‑OHS Professional Development Series (PDS) courses and workshops qualifies an individual to receive the IEMA‑OHS PDS Certificate. This certificate signed by the Governor of Illinois and the IEMA‑OHS Director, will be awarded by the IEMA‑OHS Training Unit.

The IEMA‑OHS PDS Certificate is a mandatory prerequisite for applicants to the Illinois Professional Emergency Manager (IPEM) Program. To be considered for the PDS Certificate, applicants must submit a completed application to the IEMA‑OHS Director no later than July 15 for accreditation in that calendar year.

Applications should be submitted to: EMA.OPS.Training@illinois.gov

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