Training and Education

First Responders & Emergency Managers

Individuals & Communities

Training and education provide the whole community with knowledge, skills and abilities needed to help people before, during and after disasters.

First Responders and Emergency Managers

FEMA provides world-class training and education for the nation’s first responders and emergency managers and other members of the whole community through a robust enterprise of institutions and partnerships managed by the National Preparedness Directorate’s National Training and Education Division (NTED) and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) National Fire Academy.

The National Fire Academy (NFA) is the nation's premier provider of leadership skills and advanced technical training for local fire and emergency services.

The NFA employs resident and off-campus classroom, blended and distance learning options, including national distribution systems of accredited state and metropolitan fire training systems and colleges and universities to reach America’s first responders.

All NFA courses receive college credit recommendation through the American Council on Education and continuing education units through the International Association for Continuing Education and Training.

The Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) offers more than 50 training courses at its resident campus in Anniston, Alabama, and through mobile deliveries, focusing on incident management, mass casualty response, and emergency response to a catastrophic natural disaster or terrorist act.  The CDP also offers a host of virtual training deliveries.

All CDP courses are accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training for continuing education units, and many are also accredited by national healthcare and law enforcement organizations.

Training provided by the CDP is federally funded at no cost to state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency response professionals or their agencies.

The National Disaster and Emergency Management University (NDEMU), formerly known as the Emergency Management Institute (EMI), is the premier institution for emergency management training and education in the United States. NDEMU offers professional development and training programs to enhance the abilities of officials at federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels, as well as members of volunteer organizations and the private sector, to minimize the impact of disasters.

The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC) is a partnership of several nationally recognized organizations whose membership is based on the urgent need to address the counter-terrorism preparedness needs of the nation’s emergency first responders within the context of all hazards including chemical, biological, radiological, and explosive Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) hazards.

The Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC) is comprised of academic partners that possess extensive experience and niche capabilities in developing and delivering homeland security curriculum to the nation’s rural emergency responders.

The Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) offers a wide range of programs focused on assisting current and emerging leaders in Homeland Defense and Security to develop the policies, strategies, programs and organizational elements needed to defeat terrorism and prepare for and respond to natural disasters and public safety threats across the United States.

The mission of the Higher Education Program is to engage academia, emergency management professional organizations, and practitioners to work together to foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation through education and research to meet the challenges that confront the nation.

Through the Continuing Training Grants (CTG) program, FEMA provides funding for eligible applicants to support and target training solutions to facilitate an integrated, whole community, risk-informed, capabilities-based approach to preparedness. Recipients of CTG awards develop and deliver training to address urgent and emerging preparedness gaps for the nation.

Communities can become more resilient when people get involved in building capacity and planning for the unexpected. FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Division (ICPD) develops and provides trainings for volunteers and local organizations to support their community during emergencies of all kinds.

When community-based organizations (CBOs) such as food pantries, daycares and non-profits are unable to sustain operations during an emergency, people who rely on them are exponentially impacted.

The Organizations Preparing for Emergency Needs (OPEN) training is designed to empower these organizations to better prepare for incidents with ten preparedness actions and guidance on developing disaster response plans.

Life-threatening emergencies can happen fast, and emergency responders aren’t always nearby.

The You Are the Help Until Help Arrives training teaches people how to save a life by taking simple actions immediately.

The CERT Basic Training includes research-validated guidance for CERT programs to teach members what to do before, during, and after the hazards their communities may face.

The course FEMA Independent Study IS-317: Introduction to CERT can be taken online before or during training.