TRAINING AND EXERCISE DIVISION               

Throughout the State, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) coordinates emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation efforts for natural and manmade disasters such as tornadoes, storms, earthquakes, hazardous materials incidents, including acts of terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction. By working seamlessly with state agencies, local public safety departments and volunteer organizations, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency can effectively coordinate response to the emergency needs of the state’s 67 counties in times of disaster.

To address the critical need of providing advanced, up-to-date training for Pennsylvania’s public safety professionals, the Training and Exercise Division (TED) was established to provide innovative and professional training to state and local emergency management personnel, elected and appointed officials, emergency responders, members of volunteer organizations active in disasters and other professionals who prepare for and respond to emergencies. The Division provides public education, professional development training, and technical training to public safety volunteers from state government and local communities across the commonwealth and conducts all hazards related exercises to test preparedness of state agencies, local governments, community public service organizations i.e. schools, hospitals, and others.  We also administer a statewide Emergency Exercise Program and oversee the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Coordinator certification program.

Public Education and Outreach includes public safety advisories, press releases, workshops, seminars and statewide conference support aimed at specific audiences (e.g. elected officials' conferences).

Pennsylvania law requires that the emergency management Coordinator at each level of government earn two levels of certification. A large part of the certification involves completing training offered by PEMA or the Federal Emergency Management Institute. To maintain the proficiency of its staff and to keep its procedures current, PEMA regularly conducts exercises to test the effectiveness of multi-agency interoperability by utilizing key personnel from state and local agencies as well as coordinating with other response partners and federal agencies.

PEMA is not accredited as an academic institution. However, some of the courses offered involve college-level curriculum and individuals completing these courses may apply to their respective colleges for credit consideration. Courses and activities listed in this publication may be eligible for in-service or continuing education credit from the PA Department of Health, PA Department of Education, PA Coroner’s Association, PA Funeral Directors, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) to name a few.

Students are required to attend all sessions of a course. Credit for course completion will not be granted if more than 10% of the program is missed. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Should a student who has been accepted for a course be unable to attend, the student’s organization may request a substitution be made. This request must be made in writing and a new training application for the substitute should accompany the notice of cancellation.

For more information contact:
Name: William Dunlap
Email: widunlap@pa.gov
Voice: (717) 651-2256