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By Daryl Lee Spiewak, CEM, TEM, Lead Trainer for the CEM Commission
In last month’s CEM Corner, we discussed the Program Management standard with a concentration on Laws and Authorities. This month we continue our discussion of the Program Management standard with a concentration on Records Management.
The NFPA® 1600 version 2013 Program Management: Records Management Standard states that the emergency management “entity shall develop, implement, and manage a records management program to ensure that records are available to the entity following an incident.” Further, it states, “The program shall include the following:
Many of the detailed procedures are developed and implemented by others outside the emergency management program. The certification examination does not cover those procedures as they are organization and jurisdictional specific. The certification examination does cover the general principles emergency managers need to “ensure records are available following an incident.”
Two examples would be (1) to know what kinds of records should be kept and (2) how emergency managers may use the data found in the records. Many planning references, as well as references on various hazards and threat assessment procedures, discuss using data found in historical records. While this may prove useful in understanding records management principles, it is not specific to this topic.
For information and discussion on Records Management, refer to these recommended FEMA Independent Study courses and other related references. Do not confuse these general records management requirements with the specific procedures found within your organization. While an emergency manager needs to understand and know local procedures to be effective in his or her position, those procedures could easily differ from the general procedures discussed in the study references and are not found on the certification exam.
The applicable FEMA Independent Study (IS) courses candidates should review when studying Records Management are:
IAEM-USA candidates should also consult these two additional references:
Next month we will begin our description of the Planning standards with a concentration on the Planning Design and Process requirements. We will also provide a recommended list of FEMA Independent Study courses and/or other references to study.
IAEM Bulletin, January 2014
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