A Guidebook for Integrating NIMS for Personnel and Resources at Airports (2014)

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23 Basic NIMS/ICS courses should be taken by airport personnel so they understand the NIMS/ICS model. These courses include ICS 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, and 800 (see Table 7), depending on the staff member’s position and responsibilities at an airport CP or EOC. First responders usually will have already been certified in some or all of these courses. Training is available online through the Emergency Management Institute and some courses are available via CD from state emergency management training offices. As mentioned earlier, smaller and rural community organizations may not be as well versed in NIMS/ICS, with the exception of their fire departments. The airport may want to lead an effort to encourage them to train online and/or with the airport to help them understand roles and responsibilities of NIMS/ICS. Airport staff can tailor the training requirements for specific incident roles and can expand the course requirement to suit the size and complexity of the airport. For instance, a small Part 139, Index A airport that depends on significant mutual aid response may only require ICS 100, 200, and 700, while a major hub, Index E airport may add 701, 702 and others. The following matrix in Figure 5 shows the recommended NIMS/ICS courses by staff positions and roles. The blacked out blocks indicate the recommended course completion for that airport position, and the incident position they would fill during a response. This figure was created in an Excel spreadsheet and is available electronically as part of the guidebook so that it can be customized by airports and tailored to their organization. The spreadsheet can be used to track individual certifications of staff members to determine where gaps may exist for NIMS/ICS role assignments in the CP and EOC. NIMS Training Sources Airports are encouraged to establish a training program that works best for their situation and staff complement. Training choices range from: • Taking basic online training offered by FEMA9 • Participating in regional training opportunities (state and local) • Developing their own training in-house • Hiring an outside source to produce the requisite training There is no magic to developing a NIMS/ICS training program and if the airport has the resources, developing in-house programs with the help and collaboration of stakeholders and mutual aid responders can yield excellent results. There are a number of training resources available to airport emergency responders, includ- ing those offered online at no charge by FEMA and the Emergency Management Institute C H A P T E R 3 NIMS Training

24 A Guidebook for Integrating NIMS for Personnel and Resources at Airports Independent Study program. State emergency management agencies and state fire training facilities also offer scheduled NIMS/ICS courses. A list of state agencies is provided in Appendix C. Local training and certification tracking can be developed using simple spreadsheets to ensure the airport staff is prepared to step up to managing incidents and emergencies. Once an airport sets a standard of training and NIMS/ICS awareness, it will be important for them to track the certification and training for each individual involved. Frequency of training should be developed individually by the airport based on their needs. If an airport is deploying ICS on a regular basis that will count towards refresher training. This guidebook recommends refresher/review courses be completed no later than three years from initial training and ideally prior to the required full-scale triennial drill for Part 139 airports. Tabletop and Functional Exercises Exercises are the essential key to testing plans and maintaining response capabilities. When considering how often to hold exercises, the issue of time and resources truly comes into play. The optimal schedule should be worked out with the various mutual aid responders and other stakeholders to ensure the schedule addresses their requirements as well as the airport’s. These details usually can be decided during planning meetings with the various stakeholders. Process Initiation Designating someone to be in charge of the planning and execution of training and exercises is part of chartering the team. The airport manager assigns the task, outlines high-level goals for the exercise, assigns lines of authority for various approvals (exercise scenario, resource usage, cost and schedule), and clearly directs the effort in writing. Planning With the process underway, the exercise planning lead then acquires support from key stake- holders, such as in-house representatives from public safety and operations, public information (where applicable), administration, and so on. In addition to in-house resources, solicitation of representatives from key mutual aid responders is critical to the success of planning an exercise. The involvement of mutual aid partners allows for their total buy-in and support, and can also reduce the financial burden borne by the airport for an exercise where other regional agencies Number Course Title IS 100.b Introduction to IC System IS 200.b ICS for Single Resource and Initial Action Plans G 300 ICS for Public Safety (Available at State Emergency Management Training Office) G 400 General & Command Staff (Available at State Emergency Management Training Office) IS 700.a NIMS, An Introduction IS 800.b National Response Framework, An Introduction Table 7. Recommended basic NIMS/ICS courses.

Figure 5. Matrix of recommended NIMS/ICS training by staff position and ICS role.10

26 A Guidebook for Integrating NIMS for Personnel and Resources at Airports benefit from the training. Figure 6 depicts the steps for planning and scheduling exercises, and how the experience gained from such drills feeds back to everyone’s emergency plans. The development of these exercises and the vetting of the AEP support the deployment of NIMS/ICS as a means to better manage response strategies. Updating Plans After assigning the team and throughout the planning and exercise development process, the team should review and update any response plans and checklists based on discussions and findings resulting from the exercises. The team can further develop the scenarios and set objectives for preliminary tabletop exercises where command assumptions can be tested, response protocols can be virtually exercised, and key decision makers can experience working face-to-face to address an incident. Flow of Exercises The exercise team can collaborate to develop a schedule of exercise and training opportunities that accomplish the agreed-to goals and objectives. Typically, once an acceptable scenario is developed, one or a series of tabletop exercises are scheduled and deployed, including injects to test the responders. These exercises help refine planning for a full-scale exercise and help to ensure the best training benefit is garnered from the effort. It is also of great benefit to plan and deploy multiple small-scale exercises with only one or two goals to be tested, such as radio communications or phone tree deployment. These smaller exercises usually exact the goal and tend not to overwhelm players. They are attainable “wins” for the planning and response teams. Figure 6. Exercise planning and feedback to emergency plans.

NIMS Training 27 Tabletop Exercises Tabletop exercises provide an opportunity to interact across agency lines in a low-stress, low-impact environment. Tabletops can be planned in short periods of time and usually only require participation of responders from two (2) to four (4) hours. Tabletop exercises allow decision-making roles to be vetted, checklists to be employed, and exercise assumptions to be tested. The airport and associated stakeholders may find that more than one or a series of tabletop exercises are beneficial in preparing the emergency management team. Finally, the real value of tabletop exercises, indeed all exercises where cross agency representatives are able to work collaboratively, helps establish professional relationships and trust among the responders and the airport. Functional Exercises Airports, especially Part 139 certified airports are accustomed to the triennial full-scale disaster exercise, and the resources, time, and effort that goes into planning and executing them. Most triennial drill commitments are a full 12 months of planning regardless the size airport. These types of exercises are usually developed from preliminary meetings of responders and tabletop exercises leading up to the full-scale exercise and sometimes referred to as “drills.” NIMS/ICS are the framework for these exercises. Hot Wash A meeting immediately following the conclusion of the functional exercise is an opportunity to collect some of the most valuable input from the players. These meetings should be held either on-site before the exercise players leave or within a few days of the exercise. Much beyond that and memories start to fade. It is also strongly recommended that these meetings be crisp, brief, and controlled. That is, the information and input from the players should be candid with a non-threatening atmosphere encouraging open discussion. The briefings should not dismiss deficiencies but should focus on what went well. Deficiencies can be briefly mentioned and then discussed more at length during a full after-action review. These exercises are a lot of work, before and during the drills, and planners and stakeholders need to be commended for their involvement. This is important since the exercise team will be fatigued from the drill, and nerves may be on edge if something did not go as expected. The hot wash should not take more than 60 to 90 minutes. The lead planner of the exercise should moderate the meeting. Set a limit for comment time per person, set a limit on who can actually comment (team leads/agency leads), and set the stage on the types of comments: did we meet the objectives set forth, what was not tested that should have been, what support could have been improved, and what, if any, elements of the exercise seemed inappropriate. Expect that communications will always be a topic of discussion. After-Action Reviews It is customary that the exercise players be given several days to collate findings and rec- ommendations for improvements to the process, from plan initiation to exercise execution. Lessons-learned meetings or after-action reviews are important for successfully developing the professional competence of the responder and management team. Image Source: Mike Cheston, Faith Group, LLC

28 A Guidebook for Integrating NIMS for Personnel and Resources at Airports After-action reviews take on a more formal atmosphere and allow a more comprehensive approach to covering all aspects of the exercise than a hot wash. These meetings generally include the primary representatives from each responding agency and can take on a more comprehensive view of the exercise. The tone in these meetings should always be one where the team wants to gain value in the learning experience, find ways to improve for the next exercise or real-world response, and walk away with a commitment to work together toward that goal. Important for this meeting is the documentation and assignment of after-action items to address deficiencies. Items should be clearly assigned with an expected date back to the planning team for resolution. A most common deficiency with after-action reviews is lack of follow-up on assignments. If these deficits are not addressed, they will most assuredly reappear during the next drill or, worse yet, real-world incident.