NA: 016-06
 NIMS Integration Center, October 13, 2006
NIMS-Integration-Center@dhs.gov
202-646-3850
NIMS Resource Inventory Management System (NIMS-RIMS)

NIMS Integration Center Releases Criteria for Credentialing Fire/Hazardous Materials (Fire/HazMat) Personnel
As part of our nation’s efforts to strengthen catastrophic response capabilities in line with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), FEMA’s NIMS Integration Center has released initial minimum criteria for Fire/HazMat personnel to be deployed using a national credentialing system. The purpose of this release is to solicit comments and constructive feedback for an open period not to exceed 45 calendar days from the date stated in this NIMS Alert.  Information on how to submit your comments via e-mail is located at the end of this Alert.  
Subject Matter Experts from the United States Fire Administration’s Credentialing Working Group identified 17 positions anticipated to be most commonly requested during an interstate mutual aid response. They are: 

               1. Airport Firefighter
               2. Emergency Vehicle Technician
               3. Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator
               4. Firefighter I
               5. Firefighter II
               6. Fire Inspector I
               7. Fire Inspector II
               8. Fire Inspector III
               9. Fire Officer I/II (Company/Unit)
               10. Fire Officer III/IV (Command)
               11. Plans Examiner I/II
               12. Public Safety Telecommunicator I/II
               13. Wildland Firefighter I
               14. Wildland Firefighter II
               15. Wildland Fire Officer I
               16. Wildland Fire Officer II
               17. Wildland/Urban Interface Protection Specialist

The positions are located on the NIMS Resource Management Page:
       http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/mutual_aid.shtm
For each job title, the Fire/HazMat Working Group identified “requisite” and “recommended” baseline criteria for education, training, experience, physical/medical fitness, certification, and licensing. These criteria are intended to complement and support existing credentialing systems. Where national standards do not exist under “requisite” criteria, “recommended” criteria are listed for current and/or future consideration. 
These recommendations have been submitted to the NIMS Integration Center and will be made available on the NIMS Web page at www.fema.gov/emergency/nims. The NIMS Integration Center again invites NIMS Stakeholders to review these initial criteria for the standardized, national credentialing of Fire/HazMat Personnel.  The Fire/HazMat Working Group will review all responses submitted and as appropriate make any needed revisions with a final NIMS release of the Criteria for credentialing Fire/HazMat personnel. 
Comments can be directed to the following E-mail address:      
       NIMS-credentialing@L-3com.com



www.fema.gov/emergency/nims