Training

In support of the Division's mission, DHSES delivers and supports training and exercises. There is a dedicated focus to ensure first-responder disciplines (Fire, EMS, Emergency Management, and Law Enforcement) receive the highest level of attention. The Division collaborates on training and exercise initiatives with many government and non-governmental organizations, staff, management, planners and technical groups. DHSES provides training to elected officials and public works, health, technology, and communications personnel.

The State Disaster Preparedness Commission's Exercise Committee coordinates and supports exercise activities, including: training, coaching, evaluation, and after action commitments; and an annual major exercise between stakeholders and partner agencies.

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NYS Office of Cyber Security

The NYS Office of Cyber Security (OCS) is responsible for the development and implementation of cyber security and geographic information systems (GIS) training for both the State and local government. Several methods are used to deliver educational material to our target audiences including end users, technical staff, Information Security Officers, GIS technicians, business managers and elected officials. Live training sessions are recorded and redistributed while other training topics are available via e-learning applications. This training includes major statewide annual conferences, geospatial summits, statewide workshops, as well as online training resources. Our goal is to provide content that is applicable to a broad audience, ranging from large to small organizations.

OCS conducts and/or participates in cyber and GIS exercises, at the local, regional and national levels, as a means to assess and enhance our cyber security and emergency response capabilities.

NYS Office of Emergency Management

The Training and Exercise Program offers training and exercise support to first responders to enhance public safety within New York State. Training is offered on a regional basis, and at the State Preparedness Training Center NYS OEM also provides a number of training opportunities to prepare for emergencies ranging from catastrophic disasters to routine emergencies including: management level, Incident Command System (ICS); performance based training, reality based training and awareness level. Our training is provided at the regional level as well as residential training at the State Preparedness Training Center.

OEM Training also hosts the State Administrative Agent (SAA) Training Point of Contact for several federal partners and the State Training Officer (STO) point of contact for applications to FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI).

Training is frequently provided in conjunction with our Disaster Preparedness Commission (DPC) partners and to assist in compliance with NYS Executive Order #26.1(adoption of NIMS) and HSPD-5).

State OEM conducts the annual State Training and Exercise Planning Workshop as well as a periodic Training Needs Assessment (TNA) which identifies where training gaps within the statewide emergency management and first responder community exist. Working with state agencies, federal training partners and other state organizations, community and local partners we strive to provide offerings that addresses discovered needs whenever possible. The TNA provides State OEM with the opportunity to re-assess courses that are being delivered and augment training gaps identified. Please visit the Course catalog, State OEM Training Calendar or the NY Aware/Prepare Training Portal for what may currently be offered by the Public Safety agencies within DHSES.

OEM's Training and Exercise Program serves all emergency management professionals, including:

• Fire Service
• Law Enforcement
• Emergency Medical Services
• Emergency Management
• Public Works
• Public Health
• Business and Industry
• State and Federal Agencies
• Utility Representatives
• Cooperating Agencies

NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control

The Office of Fire Prevention and Control delivers a wide range of technical assistance, training, and services to firefighters, emergency responders, state and local government agencies and officials, public and private colleges, and the citizens of New York. The Office advances public safety through firefighter training, education, fire prevention, fire investigation, special operations and technical rescue programs. Firefighter training is offered in our residential program at the Frederick L. Warder Academy of Fire Science and in our Outreach Program where training classes are conducted at fire stations and other venues throughout New York State. The training courses are conducted through the 6 bureaus within OFPC; Arson/Fire Investigation, Fire Prevention, Fire Services, Hazardous Materials and Homeland Security, Special Services, and the Fire Academy.

NYS Office of Interoperable and Emergency Communications

The Office of Interoperable and Emergency Communications (OIEC) facilitates the delivery of public safety communications training to State and local partners. This includes the Communications Unit Leader (COM-L) and Communications Technician (COM-T) courses, two positions that are identified in Incident Command System (ICS) structure. The Statewide Interoperability Coordinator receives input from the response level organizations on training needs from across New York State (NYS), measures these requests against the strategic goals of the NY Statewide Interoperability Communication Plan (SCIP) and works with the Federal Department of Homeland Security-Office of Emergency Communications to obtain and schedule training.

DHSES communications assets, such as Command-1, are utilized in exercises. This provides both an opportunity for DHSES to determine how our assets align with, augment and support the communication requirements of response agencies across NYS, meet the goals of the NY SCIP, but more importantly, train, test and exercise resource capabilities and conditions of readiness.

Exercises

The NYS DHSES-OEM Exercise program assists and supports development of local preparedness and response exercise programs by assisting in planning, developing, conducting and evaluating objective-based, scenario-driven exercises, providing technical assistance with Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) guidance, and providing (loan) a variety of simulation equipment to enhance realism in preparedness exercises.

Exercise staff can provide assistance with all aspects of exercise program management including:

• Planning
• Development
• Conduct
• Evaluation
• After Action Report/Improvement Plan Development
• Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program guidance and compliance

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On February 28, 2003, the President issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD=5), "Management of Domestic Incidents," which directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and administer a National Incident Management System (NIMS). This system provides a consistent nationwide template to enable Federal, State, tribal, and local governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity. This consistency provides the foundation for utilization of NIMS for all incidents, ranging from daily occurrences to incidents requiring a coordinated Federal response.

NIMS is not an operational incident management or resource allocation plan. NIMS represents a core set of doctrines, concepts, principles, terminology, and organizational processes that enables effective, efficient, and collaborative incident management.

Building on the foundation provided by existing emergency management and incident response systems used by jurisdictions, organizations, and functional disciplines at all levels, NIMS integrates best practices into a comprehensive framework for use nationwide by emergency management/response personnel in an all-hazards context. These best practices lay the groundwork for the components of NIMS and provide the mechanisms for the further development and refinement of supporting national standards, guidelines, protocols, systems, and technologies. NIMS fosters the development of specialized technologies that facilitate emergency management and incident response activities, and allows for the adoption of new approaches that will enable continuous refinement of the system over time.

 

States and territories play an important role in ensuring effective NIMS implementation; not only must they implement NIMS within State and territory Departments and Agencies, but also ensure that the systems and processes are in place to communicate and support NIMS compliance at all jurisdictional levels. From both Federal and State levels, all "first responder" agencies (including fire, law enforcement, HAZMAT, emergency medical, public works, public health, emergency communications, emergency management, and other agencies involved in disaster preparedness, prevention, response and recovery activities), have received direction to support the nation-wide implementation of NIMS. The long-term goal of NIMS is to provide state, territorial, local, and tribal jurisdictions with a consistent operational framework for all aspects of incident management. This framework should be sustainable, flexible, and scalable to meet changing incident needs and allow for integration of other resources from various partners through mutual aid agreements.

The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services are committed to providing the appropriate guidance and information necessary to assist entities in achieving compliance with the NIMS. Ongoing informational updates will be provided via this website.

OFPC Fire Academy