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Florida Case Study - All-Hazard Incident Management Teams

SUMMARY

All-Hazard Incident Management Teams (AHIMT) provide situational awareness and support to the SERTs and the State Coordinating Officer (SCO). FDEM deployed all six AHIMTs at least once in response to Hurricane Irma. Before Hurricane Irma, Florida used grant funds in 2015 to develop the All-Hazards Incident Management Qualification Program, which helps to ensure both the efficient allocation of resources and that emergency responders are supported effectively during an incident.

Florida All Hazard Incident Management Team Locations Graphic

Florida All-Hazard Incident Management Team Locations
 

DESCRIPTION

Between Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 and 2017, the State of Florida used approximately $803,057 in State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) funding to support AHIMTs. Florida has six AHIMTs: five are county teams and one is a state team located in Tallahassee. AHIMTs report to the Operations Section Chief, unless otherwise determined by the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) Chief or the State Coordinating Officer (SCO), and liaise between SERT and the SCO during an incident. AHIMTs provide situational awareness and support for operational planning to the SERT and the SCO by incorporating information collected from the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), county Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs),  and local agencies.i Missions that could be assigned to an AHIMT include EOC Augmentation, Base Camp Management, and Recovery Operations.

On March 7, 2013, Florida’s DSOC adopted the FDEM Type 3 All-Hazard Incident Management System Credentialing Guide to begin the standardization process for Incident Management Teams in Florida. In 2015, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) hosted Steering Committee and Oversight Committee meetings to develop and refine the Domestic Security Oversight Council (DSOC) guidance and improve the application process. Florida then entered into a period of Historical Recognition beginning in January 2015. The goal was to build an initial cadre of emergency responders qualified for the Incident Command System position, identified as needed to form the program’s foundation. With the end of Historical Recognition in November 2016, the state implemented Position Specific Task Books (PTB), which officially launched in January 2017. The goal of Florida’s PTBs is to grow emergency responders in Incident Command System positions throughout the state. Florida’s Qualification Programii was created to ensure that personnel resources match requests, and it supports effective management of deployed responders. The Qualification Program allows officials requesting resources to understand that the AHIMTs arriving in their jurisdiction have the necessary training to complete the task at hand. The program used Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funding to help fund the state’s All-Hazards Incident Management Qualification Program in 2015. This AHIMT Qualification Program is nationally known and frequently helps associations and other states develop their own qualification programs. Florida now has over 200 open PTBs and over 100 qualified individuals throughout the state who can sign off on them.

During Hurricane Irma, FDEM deployed all six AHIMTs at least once, and some teams were deployed up to five times. AHIMT missions included supporting points of distribution (POD), logistics staging areas, and EOCs. Florida’s AHIMTs were also deployed for Puerto Rico Support Operations, and a team was sent to support North Carolina in September 2018 in response to Hurricane Florence through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC).

REFERENCES

FEMA, National Preparedness Assessment Division. Stakeholder Interviews with representatives from Florida. August and September 2018.

i https://www.floridadisaster.org/state-eoc/incident-management-teams/
ii https://www.floridadisaster.org/state-eoc/incident-management-teams/ahimt- qualification-process/

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