Shout Out: DOC Incident Management Team Members

By Jay Olson

More than 100 Emergency Management professionals from across the country advanced their leadership skills in emergency management in Duluth during the week of January 29th at the Section Chiefs Academy, which takes place every three years.

The offerings focus on the Incident Command System and the Incident Management Team's core command and general staff positions – incident commander, public information officer, liaison officer, safety officer, and the section chiefs who coordinate planning, operations, logistics, and finance. 120 students from Alaska, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Canada attended.

AWA Ian Heaslip (ML) and Safety Administrator Ben Drilling (SCL) represented the DOC Incident Management Team (IMT). The IMT is available to manage any type of incident that qualifies under the critical mission priorities: assist command, assume command, and/or pre-event planning. The IMT is also available to the State of Minnesota as needed. According to AWO Heaslip, “during this four-day training, the role and responsibilities for the Planning Section Chief were explained in detail, including hands-on exercises to practice using the myriad of forms necessary to make the ICS process work well in a Type 1, 2, or 3 activation."

DOC Emergency Manager Amy Chamberlain stated that “this level of training ensures that the IMT maintains a high-level of readiness and preparedness for all hazards incident response consistent with FEMA and HSEM requirements."