KCEM Program - INITIAL CERTIFICATION

KCEM Program - INITIAL CERTIFICATION

CRITERIA FOR INITIAL CERTIFICATION:

1.     Formal Education:  At least a High School Diploma or equivalent.

2.     Employment Requirement:  Applicant must currently be performing the functions of an emergency management professional staff position within the state of Kansas.  This position may be with a public, private or non-profit organization or business – as a full or part-time employee or as an unpaid volunteer.  A copy of the applicant’s current job description or a letter from the applicant’s employer describing the emergency management related functions the applicant is currently performing must accompany the application.

3.        Experience:

            a. General:  At least two (2) years emergency management experience.

  1. This can be a combination of local or state agencies such as Emergency Management, Fire Service, Emergency Medical Service or Law Enforcement.  These positions can be either paid or volunteer.
  2. A governmental, private, or non-profit position, either paid or voluntary such as: military or civilian planning/disaster preparedness, etc.

            b. Specific:  Within the experience outlined above, the following specific experience is required:

  1. Planning:  Must have taken the FEMA Emergency Management Institute’s (EMI) Emergency Planning course or Multi-Hazard Safety Program for Schools.  This may be in the classroom, on-line or as a home study course.
  2. Exercises:  Must have taken EMI sponsored Exercise Design course and Exercise Evaluation course, also called Terrorism Exercise Design and Evaluation course.  Official documentation must be provided.  If the FEMA independent study Exercise Design and Evaluation course on-line or home study is taken, the additional requirement to participate in the design and implementation of an exercise applies.  This exercise can be functional, tabletop or full scale.  Official documentation must be provided such as: certificate of course completion and an exercise report form or other proof of documentation.
  3. Training:  Shall have successfully completed current National Incident Management System (NIMS) training requirements for the emergency management function.

4.  Professional Education/Training: In addition to the above training, applicant must have completed within the eight (8) years immediately prior to application, at least eighty (80) hours of professional education and training related to emergency management.  This may be classroom, home study or Internet classes that will be eligible for the number of contact hours listed on the course certificate or course list.  These hours may not include more than twenty (20) contact hours from the EMI radiological curriculum.  Of the eighty (80) required contact hours, at the Certification Committee’s discretion, up to forty (40) hours of non-EMI/FEMA/Department of Homeland Security (DHS) emergency training (e.g. Title III, fire service, law enforcement, weather service, etc.) may be substituted for the above requirement provided that the combined radiological and non-EMI/FEMA/DHS total shall not exceed forty (40) hours.  At least forty (40) of the required eighty (80) contact hours shall be from the EMI/FEMA/DHS curriculum.  At the discretion of the committee, duplicate classes may not be accepted.

View the evaluation worksheet to see if you have met the requirements.

Download the Complete KCEM Guidelines, Criteria, and Application Form

Fill in the appropriate form, save it to your computer and print.  Then send,
Completed NEW / INITIAL KCEM applications to:

Deb Swoboda, KCEM
Washington County Emergency Management
301 B Street
Washington, KS 66968-2013
Office: (785) 325-2134
Fax: (785) 325-2924

Please call Deb at 785-325-2134 or e-mail at wsemdir@bluevalley.net if you have any questions.