By Daryl Lee Spiewak, CEM, TEM, MEP, Lead Trainer for the CEM Commission

Last month we discussed the Exercises and Testing Standards, which is the last part of the standards used for the 2015 AEM/CEM Exam. This month we will summarize the standards and start our discussion on the new CEM® exam that IAEM will implement in January 2015.

The Exam Standards Summarized

There are 18 USA National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA® 1600 standards. IAEM divided the 18 standards into core and country-specific standards. Core standards are the general principles that apply to emergency managers regardless of the position or entity/organization. The core standards are:

• Finance and Administration
• Records Management
• Planning Design and Process
• Risk Assessment
• Business Impact Analysis
• Resource Needs Assessment
• Planning
• Prevention
• Mitigation
• Crisis Communications and Public Information
• Warning, Notifications, and Communications
• Operational Procedures
• Incident Management
• Emergency Operations Centers
• Emergency Operations/Response Plan
• Business Continuity and Recovery
• Exercises, Evaluations, and Corrective Actions

Country-specific Standards

Country-specific standards are those that apply to a specific country. At the time of this printing, only the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have country-specific exams. Those candidates from other countries take the International version, which consists of questions based solely on the core standards. The country-specific standards are:

• Laws and Authorities
• Finance and Administration
• Mutual Aid
• Operational Procedures
• Incident Management
• Emergency Operations Centers
• Emergency Operations/Response Plan

Core References

The following is the list of references used to develop the 2015 CEM® Exam questions. You do not have to complete each FEMA Independent Study (IS) course to prepare for the exam. However, you will be able to earn contact hours to apply towards the CEM® and AEMSM training requirement by completing them.

• Principles of Emergency Management
• FEMA Independent Study Courses
• IS-1a Emergency Manager
• IS-15b Special Events Contingency Planning for Public Safety Agencies
• IS-100b Introduction to the Incident Command System
• IS-120a An Introduction to Exercises
• IS-130 Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning
• IS-139 Exercise Design
• IS-200b ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• IS-230d Fundamentals of Emergency Management
• IS-235b Emergency Planning
• IS-242b Effective Communication
• IS-244b Developing and Managing Volunteers
• IS-271a Anticipating Hazardous Weather and Community Risk
• IS-318 Mitigation Planning for Local and Tribal Communities
• IS-340 Hazardous Materials Prevention
• IS-366 Planning for the Needs of Children in Disasters
• IS-393a Introduction to Hazard Mitigation
• IS-547a Introduction to Continuity of Operations (COOP)
• IS-559 Local Damage Assessment
• IS-619 Research in Training and Education
• IS-632a Introduction to Debris Operations
• IS-775 EOC Management and Operations
• IS-910a Emergency Management Preparedness Fundamentals
• IS-2001 Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA)

Country-specific References

Country-specific references provide the details necessary to address how a particular country applies the emergency management principles and procedures. Mostly, these specifics are addressed in various laws and authorities, but they can be addressed in additional standards areas. This article covers the country-specific references for the USA. I will include the country-specific standards from other countries as they are updated.

USA References

• Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended
• National Incident Management System
• National Response Framework
• National Disaster Recovery Framework
• National Mitigation Framework
• National Prevention Framework
• Comprehensive Preparedness Guide CPG-101, Version 2.0
• HSEEP Manual, version April 2013
• FEMA Independent Study Courses
• IS-208a State Disaster Management
• IS-288 Role of Voluntary Agencies in Emergency Management
• IS-403 Introduction to Individual Assistance (IA) (DF-103)
• IS-634 Introduction to FEMA’s Public Assistance Program
• IS-700a National Incident Management System (NIMS): An Introduction
• IS-701a NIMS Multiagency Coordination System (MACS)
• IS-702a National Incident Management System (NIMS) Public Information Systems
• IS-703a NIMS Resource Management
• IS-706 NIMS Intrastate Mutual Aid: An Introduction
• IS-800b The National Response Framework: An Introduction
• IS-2900 National Disaster Recovery Framework Overview

Coming Soon in the CEM Corner

The new exam based on the 2013 NFPA® 1600 standards becomes effective January 2015. IAEM is considering adding a specific exam tailored to the unique needs of emergency managers in business and industry. We will address the requirements of that exam once we have the details worked out. Next month we will begin analyzing some practice exam questions.

IAEM Bulletin, December 2014

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