Mounted search and rescue

["Jorene Downs" <Jorene@CEOates.com>]

All first responder types in the USA are now required to have basic 
certification in the Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident 
Management System (NIMS). This is for all first responders (including SAR), 
not just those responding to disaster or somehow working with FEMA. Meeting 
this requirement has federal funding attached, and most officials will refer 
to this as NIMS compliance.

Online training and testing are available on FEMA's Independent Study (IS) 
program:
http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/IS/crslist.asp

The current requirements are:
IS-200 (pre-requisite of 100) for  ICS
IS-700 for Intro to NIMS

ICS 300 and 400 have been re-written and are now available for management 
level from the state training officer or through EMI.

All are now required to be using ICS daily, at every incident. There are 
forms online related to using ICS to document the incident, etc.
http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/forms/icsforms.htm

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jorene Downs
Tulare Co SAR - Hasty Team ICP Team
www.ceoates.com/sar
Tulare-Kings CERT
www.tk-cert.org