International Association of Fire Chiefs calls on TEEX expertise

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has called on TEEX for the development of curriculum and software for a FEMA-funded training project.

As part of the project, the IAFC plans to hold two regional workshops in each of the 10 FEMA regions to encourage communications within each region and enable greater regional collaboration. Ultimately, the goal of the program is to support the growth of mutual aid and other regional response capabilities, as identified by the region.

Under an agreement signed this month, TEEX’s Emergency Services Training
Institute (ESTI) will develop the curriculum and participant guide for the
workshops and the Knowledge Engineering Center will develop an online training portal. “The portal will be a comprehensive learning and collaborative environment that includes a wizard to guide communities through an online evaluation to identify gaps that will be addressed during the workshops,” said Aimee Barnes, Business Development Coordinator with the Knowledge Engineering Center.

The portal will also include online registration, class rosters, a discussion forum, links and other collaborative tools that allow officials to network, discuss and share best practices across all FEMA regions, she added.

“ESTI curriculum services has worked with IAFC on various projects over the past two years,” said ESTI Program Coordinator Brent Sanford. “For this project, we’ll build classes that will help the regions measure their own capabilities, as well as network with others in the region,” he said. Participants will also get a tutorial on how to use the training portal, he added.

IAFC representatives recently met with TEEX officials about the project and toured Brayton Fire Training Field and Disaster City?. Among the IAFC officials in the talks were John Woulfe, Assistant Director for IAFC National Programs, and Melissa Hebert, Program Manager.

The entire project is expected to take about one year to complete.