Course Description

Managing Food Emergencies:

Strategies for a Community Response is a management-level course that teaches participants how to manage food emergencies using the emergency operations center (EOC), Incident Command System (ICS) principles, and best management practices. Participants will manage a fictional food emergency using the guidelines and strategies of the Incident and Unified Command systems. The scenario will advance with every module, beginning with Module 2, from the point that a foodborne outbreak is detected. The scenario will progress throughout the modules from surveillance and into the transition to recovery. In Module 7, participants will engage in an after-action discussion to assess their current preparedness for a food emergency and the value of using ICS principles and practices, and adding Emergency Management as a food emergency response partner.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe how using the NIMS, the ICS, EOCs, and a whole-community approach can improve food emergency responses.
• Examine credible surveillance systems and the triggers they produce to enhance their preparedness for and response to food emergencies.
• Develop appropriate response action plans to mitigate the effects of a food emergency.
• Develop communication and coordination strategies to minimize the effects of a food emergency.
• Manage the transition of resources from a food emergency response environment to strategies and activities essential for recovery from a food emergency.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a food emergency response by determining strengths and weaknesses and by defining tangible steps to take to improve future food emergency responses.

Other Prerequisites

To enroll in this course, participants must be US citizens and must possess or obtain a FEMA student identification number (SID). Participants should also complete the following ICS training:

• ICS-100.B: Introduction to Incident Command System and ICS-100 and ICS-700 required.
• ICS 200 and ICS 800 are recommended

The target audience for this course includes management personnel from the following:

• Healthcare provider administration
• Hospital clinical leadership
• Hospital non-clinical supervisors
• Hospital liaison officers
• Hospital safety, emergency planning and emergency preparedness
• Mental health professionals
• Home healthcare and hospice
• Functional needs caretaker
• Local, county and state public health departments
• Emergency management organizations
• Emergency medical services
• Fire departments
• Law enforcement
• Public information officers
• Public works directors
• Elected officials
• Transportation administration
• Schools
• Human services
• Community health centers
• Non-governmental and faith-based
• Veterinarians and veterinarian technicians