Emmitsburg, MD – From May 12-15, 2008, FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI) hosted over 200 State training and exercise officials for the 29th annual National Preparedness Training and Exercise Conference. 

Mr. Dennis Schrader, Deputy Administrator for National Preparedness, opened the conference with remarks focusing on efforts to better integrate all of FEMA’s State and local training and exercise programs within the National Preparedness Directorate.  Mr. Schrader identified EMI as FEMA’s lead training and exercise organization and mentioned that there are efforts ongoing to reinvigorate EMI.

EMI Acting Superintendent, Ms. Vilma Schifano-Milmoe described to the participants how the conference would address its theme, “Partnerships for Success”.

There were numerous updates on the variety of FEMA training and exercise programs, such as the Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP), Master Trainer Program (MTP), Professional Development Series (PDS), and Competitive Training Grant Program (CTGP).  Many of the FEMA workshop sessions dealt with implementation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the National Response Framework (NRF).

While the conference provided an opportunity to hear updates from FEMA training and exercise staff, State training and exercise officials conducted many sessions which shared experiences and practices.

A series of presentations on lessons learned from incidents was very well received by the participants – the incidents discussed included the 2007 Greensburg, Kansas tornado, the Virginia Tech shootings, California wildfires, and the Minneapolis I-35W bridge collapse.

A highlight of the conference was the largest exhibit of new training programs to date.  Over 30 of FEMA’s training partners had displays and booths to visit.  They included the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC), and most of the current competitive training grant awardees.