FEMA courses (online)

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Gabe0725

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WHOA! I was told I needed to do these course to gain more points when the time comes for the FDNY to call & they seem pretty confusing.
I was told to do:

ICS 100

ICS 200

ICS 700

ICS 800

HAZMAT

WMD

So far, I did ICS 100, not really concentrating too much & I failed it. The site said we could do it as many times as we need to so I'm not worried about passing it.

But my question is, how important are these courses and are there any other courses I might need to make my EMT resume more appealing?

BTW, I'm certified in NYS. Thanks!!!
 
I have 100, 200, and 700. I believe 200 was for a dispatcher job I applied for. But get at least 100 and 700. Some of the others are classroom based only.
 
All those listed ICS courses can be taken for free online. The best way to take them and pass easily is to start each course, look for a link to a summary of the course (should be in the first few pages of the course), save this link or keep it open, and then after you have read through the course materials, use the summary page as a reference on the test. It has the answers to every question.
 
I have all of them. I was told that they are required to be completed and on file for all employees of a public safety organization that receives federal grants. In addition, they were also required by the last station I volunteered with. I haven't verified whether or not this is true, but if it's required education pertaining to my job, I'm going to make certain I get it finished. I like getting paid.

They're not very hard, just dry and boring.
 
My employer just had everyone complete the FEMA Helathcare Incident Command System Training last week.

IS 00.100HC
 
We were required to complete 100, 200 and 700 to pass the EMT course this summer.
 
Gabe0725 said:
So far, I did ICS 100, not really concentrating too much & I failed it. The site said we could do it as many times as we need to so I'm not worried about passing it.
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jjesusfreak01 said:
The best way to take them and pass easily is to start each course, look for a link to a summary of the course (should be in the first few pages of the course), save this link or keep it open, and then after you have read through the course materials, use the summary page as a reference on the test. It has the answers to every question.
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Despite the fact the courses are written and distributed by FEMA, if they are required for your job, they are indeed important. FEMA developed this National Incident Management System for a reason-- to unify management nationally, so there is consistent training, consistent leadership structure and consistent quality assessment. It means that emergency responders (FFs, EMTs, Medics, Supervisors, Emergency Planners, etc) can use uniform skills and knowledge for their small incident at home, and to respond to Katrina on the other end of the nation.

While the online course allows for it, do you feel you are really learning the material by cheating on the tests? I believe you digitally agree to a policy forbidding using a cheat sheet before taking the test.

The reality is that the courses have material that may seem simplistic, but does serve a purpose, and while the tests are easy, it's not an excuse to blow the classes off.
 
EMS49393 said:
I have all of them. I was told that they are required to be completed and on file for all employees of a public safety organization that receives federal grants. In addition, they were also required by the last station I volunteered with. I haven't verified whether or not this is true, but if it's required education pertaining to my job, I'm going to make certain I get it finished. I like getting paid.

They're not very hard, just dry and boring.
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I'd never heard of these courses until I started applying for jobs in co in march. NM for the most part doesn't care about them, and I've not seen them as a requirement for tx either.
 
emt.dan said:
The reality is that the courses have material that may seem simplistic, but does serve a purpose, and while the tests are easy, it's not an excuse to blow the classes off.
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Additionally, if the courses are simplistic (instead of just seeming so), then the questions should be easily answered without cheating.
 
I took a couple of these courses last February and never recieved my certain of completion they're suppose to mail you. Anyone else have this happen to them?
 
JD. said:
I took a couple of these courses last February and never recieved my certain of completion they're suppose to mail you. Anyone else have this happen to them?
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They don't mail anything. They email you a .pdf file of the certificate that you're supposed to print out.
 
Over the years I took (I think) all of these courses. I got the PDF certs somewhere. I have to admit they didn't teach me much.
 
Honestly, they really didn't seem too boring to me. All of this medical info & educational material is new to me so it definitely peaks my interest. But where I went wrong when I was doing the 1st course was that I was doing it almost when I was going to hit the sack so maybe the tiredness was what was getting me out of really getting the full impact of these courses. I'll definitely be doing them when I'm fully awake & know what I'm reading.

And the cheating part, even though we can pretty much cheat on these, I rather not. I rather fail then cheat. It's just not me.
 
Also, Paintball thanks for the headsup that FEMA doesn't mail you an actual certificate. I'll keep this in mind & make sure I have ink in my printer.
 
emt.dan said:
While the online course allows for it, do you feel you are really learning the material by cheating on the tests? I believe you digitally agree to a policy forbidding using a cheat sheet before taking the test.
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I don't think I would consider it cheating since they provide the page. On the NIMS 100 and 200 classes its actually a PDF you can download. The classes are boring and worse extremely repetitive if you take them one after another. I probably could have passed the tests without using the reference pages, but I like to get all the answers right...
 
jjesusfreak01 said:
I don't think I would consider it cheating since they provide the page. On the NIMS 100 and 200 classes its actually a PDF you can download. The classes are boring and worse extremely repetitive if you take them one after another. I probably could have passed the tests without using the reference pages, but I like to get all the answers right...
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Yes, they provide the reference page, to STUDY. I know it's hard to believe, but there is a potential utility to the information from the course in the real world, and if it's a requirement for a job, it is expected you will have the knowledge to use at that job.
 
I had to take them all as well. Total pain in the butt, and honestly not of much use.
 
"not of much use..."

Really? How many multiple casualty incidents have you worked as an EMT-B student?

Nothing you learn is of much use until you actually need it, then it's invaluable.

John E
 
emt.dan said:
Yes, they provide the reference page, to STUDY. I know it's hard to believe, but there is a potential utility to the information from the course in the real world, and if it's a requirement for a job, it is expected you will have the knowledge to use at that job.
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The four courses combine for a total of 1.2 IACET CEUs, so they expect you to take about 3 hours for each course. The summary PDFs are 37 pages of solid text and the courses are much longer, so I can't imagine they would expect you to do much more than read the material and take the tests. That said, because they are very repetitive, by the time I had finished all 4 of the courses, I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on ICS. Maybe thats why most systems make you do 3 or more of the ICS courses.
 
jjesusfreak01 said:
The four courses combine for a total of 1.2 IACET CEUs, so they expect you to take about 3 hours for each course. The summary PDFs are 37 pages of solid text and the courses are much longer, so I can't imagine they would expect you to do much more than read the material and take the tests. That said, because they are very repetitive, by the time I had finished all 4 of the courses, I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on ICS. Maybe thats why most systems make you do 3 or more of the ICS courses.
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Pedagogically, internet course are very interesting, and often employ different methods then classroom lectures or strict textbook reading. The repetitive nature of the course with frequent interactive modules and mini-quizzes helps reinforce the material.

I'm not saying it works for everyone or is perfect pedagogy, but certainly serves a purpose, and is generally effective.
 
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