Community Resilience for Senior Leaders

This course examines the role of public information in all-hazards incident management and provides practical training in crisis communication techniques. In a major incident, it is imperative that community leaders, incident managers, and Public Information Officers (PIOs) are prepared to communicate with the public through traditional and social media. The course consists of three modules.
The first module reviews the topics of terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), national response structures, incident management, and government and agency roles. Participants learn about the passing of information to the public in a WMD, terrorism, or other all-hazards incident and the function of joint information operations.
The second module covers issues unique to interacting with members of the media to help you build more effective relationships and avoid common mistakes when providing information to the press and public.  The module includes a mock press conference exercise in which the class is broken into groups to prepare for and conduct press conferences based on fictional WMD, terrorism, and all-hazards incident scenarios. These scenarios are taken from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Planning Scenarios.
The third module introduces the crisis communication life cycle and crisis communication planning. A six-phase cycle is discussed, with public information objectives and key actions for managing each phase provided. Participants learn how to create a crisis communication plan and develop a crisis communication team to execute it. Show less

This course provides a forum to discuss strategic and executive-level issues related to all-hazard disaster preparedness, to share proven strategies and best practices, and to enhance coordination among officials responsible for emergency response and recovery from a disaster.   This workshop integrates a multimedia scenario and vignettes that highlight key issues and facilitates executive-level discussion of the United States’ National Strategy for Homeland Security.  Additionally, the forum provides an opportunity to apply lessons learned from past local and national all-hazards disasters.
This course includes seven distinct modules incorporating lecture, discussion, and a practical exercise.  Each module focuses on a key component of disaster preparedness, such as Culture of Preparedness, Integrated Partnerships, Organizing for Success, Crisis Communications, etc.  Within the various modules are opportunities for group interaction and discussion.  The final module of the course is designed to provide the participants the opportunity to develop an action plan or to-do list for follow-up consideration and action.
The practical exercise consists of an expanding incident, designed specifically to address the local community’s needs or concerns.  Participants are provided information and periodic updates, after which they are given a list of questions to consider and discuss.  Through these updates, the incident builds upon itself until it reaches a mass casualty/catastrophic level, thereby overwhelming the normal capabilities of the local jurisdiction and challenging the participants to consider their local policies, resources, and limitations.
This workshop provides a unique opportunity for local or regional executives to share strategies and coordinate plans for emergency preparedness and response. This workshop is an effective process for discussing executive-level issues with leaders from the agencies involved in all levels of the emergency management structure. Show less

The Crisis Leadership seminar is an executive-level presentation for the nation’s senior officials at the city, county, region, territory, tribal, and state levels. Seminar participants will discuss strategic- and executive-level issues and challenges related to preparing for, responding to, and recovering from a catastrophic incident. The venue provides an excellent opportunity to share proven strategies and practices and apply lessons-learned from past natural, technological, and human-caused disasters.The seminar is a facilitated, free-flowing discussion of the stresses of crisis leadership and decision-making gained from an examination of a selected case study of a catastrophic event. The seminar uses the case study to frame the discussion regarding ways to overcome leadership challenges before, during and after an incident. Current case studies to choose from include:Hurricane Harvey: Chaos on the Gulf CoastMayhem at Mandalay BayThe Camp Fire: Crisis in CaliforniaFear and Realities: Managing Ebola in DallasThe final outcome of the seminar is the development of individual and/or jurisdictional action plans to guide improvement of emergency preparedness, response and recovery actions. Show less

The goal of the Active Shooter Exercise Development Workshop is to provide first responder and city, county, and state officials with the knowledge, skills and abilities to lead an Active Shooter Tabletop Exercise.ScopePast Active shooter events have proven the need for realistic exercises delivered in the community. This course answers that need by providing a train the trainer (TtT) course on how to design and deliver a Tabletop exercise (TTX). This course will also provide template materials needed to deliver five (5) different TTXs, with one (1) of the five TTXs delivered in the afternoon of the training day.    Show less

The goal of this course is to enhance the safety and security awareness of individuals responsible for organizing, supervising, and supporting after school activities and interscholastic athletics. This innovative training will provide an online platform for learning while improving the awareness level of security and resilience within school districts and communities hosting special events and interscholastic athletics.

This course was developed in a partnership effort between The University of Southern Mississippi’s National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (USM/NCS4) and the TEEX National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center (NERRTC). Show less

Participants will learn how to create effective training plans for their agencies and jurisdictions using a whole community approach. Participants will learn a jurisdiction training assessment process in which an integrated assessment team creates a jurisdictional profile and evaluates the jurisdiction’s ability to fully implement their Emergency Operations Plans (EOP). Participants will then be able to identify and catalog training goals and identify ways to meet them by prioritizing training efforts, developing improvement plans, and implementing a course of action.This course meets Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) requirements for MGT-418 Readiness: Training Identification and Preparedness Planning course #78403. Show less