CEMIS

Comprehensive Emergency Management Independent Study (CEMIS)
The CEMIS Group On-line is a place for finding out about Comprehensive Emergency Management (CEM) and Incident Command System (ICS) structures for dealing with emergency situations up to those of national significance, large one-time events, and other applications.

CEM and ICS structures are accepted methods that are required for receiving federal disaster relief funding. In an emergency, states, municipalities, tribal groups, and volunteer organizations combine resources in a flexible responsive manner under management by objectives to meet operation goals from the onset of the emergency to its resolution.

CEM and ICS structures also provide a way to plan for and hold large events in an organized manner. CEM and ICS structures represents a 30-year history of best-practice implementation where experience provides lessons for improving response and anticipating hazards as they may develop into catastrophic conditions.

CEMIS Learning Areas
Major learning areas within the CEMIS Group On-line include the National Response Framework Resource Center, Emergency Managment Institute Independent Study Program, and ALERT Resource Center.

National Response Framework Resource Center
The National Response Framework is that part of the National Strategy for Homeland Defense that has responsibility for responses to emergency incidents up to and including national significance. The National Response Framework Resource Center provides for cooperation among resources to achieve those homeland security objectives and provides a place for learning lessons of interest to improving effective emergency preparation, response, mitigation and recovery from participating resources in ICS structures.

Emergency Managment Institute Independent Study Program
The Emergency Management Institute is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for training interested United Stateas citizens, emergency mamagers, and volunteer organizers about CEM and ICS structures.

ALERT Resource Center
The All-hazard Local Emergency Response Team (ALERT) is a popular adaptation of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) where people in communities organize themselves to prepare for and respond to emergency situations in the first days after a major disaster. ALERT activities also include hazard mitigation through recognition and public disclosure of hazards found in our communities as well as long-term recovery from disaster by promoting community participation in CEM activities. ALERTs adhere to ICS "Plain English" communication standards to coordinate activities and provide local information to ICS structures and their resources as they arrive on-scene in local emergency deployments.