Introduction
The information presented here along with the Course Host Guide was developed to assist any department, agency, district, Non-Governmental Organization, commonwealth, private-sector business, or jurisdiction by providing guidance on how to deliver the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) O-305, Type 3 All-Hazard Incident Management Team (AHIMT) Introduction course successfully.
Since its development in 2004, student evaluations from the 0-305 course have consistently rated it as “the best ICS course available” or “one of the best ICS courses I’ve ever taken.” For over 15 years this course has been identified and used as the entry point onto the path for developing an AHIMT or increasing local incident management capability, and has been presented many hundreds of times throughout the United States and numerous other countries.
Although it was developed and sponsored by the USFA, the course is not fire-centric, but developed specifically to reflect an All-Hazards and whole-community approach to incident management training that reflects all disciplines and all levels of government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and the private sector. The host entity must work with the cadre lead to develop and tailor a final day All-Hazards incident as the basis for an exercise that reflects the kind and type of incident the entity believes best reflect the entity’s environment and needs.
The planning and preparation for this course are more complex than other Incident Command System (ICS) courses because of this course’s interactive nature, because of multiple scenarios used during the course, and because of its focus on teams using multiple Instructors and Mentors to present.
The Guide has been developed to help ensure that those additional complexities are identified, and that clear and concise procedures are provided to navigate successfully through the entire planning process and course presentation.