May 3 — Official training for city

Sumner city council undergoes crisis management training, ensures funding

Andrew Hosford / of The Herald

Last week, the Sumner City Council received some basic training in what to do during major incidents and disasters.

The National Incident Management System is now a required training implement for federal, state and city level officials and emergency responders.

“The purpose of it is to make sure that if there is an incident, everyone is on the same page,” said Dave Wakefield, the assistant chief and training coordinator with East Pierce Fire and Rescue.

Wakefield said the program is required nationally and is part of Homeland Security.

Implemented in 2004, training for the NIMS program has to be completed by the end of this year to assure federal preparedness funding from the federal government.

“It has a lot more value than that,” said Mayor David Enslow.

Covering multiple levels of the city government, the training includes the city council.

Training basics are the same but specific issues, like policy making for the council, are directed to the necessary officials.

“They need to be aware of the system and how it works,” Wakefield said of the council’s training.

The council’s direct influence during critical situations centers around policy functions.

“We need to be prepared to act quickly,” Enslow said.

He said the training is federally mandated to conform to growth management regulations.

He believes the training is much more than a funding requirement, though.

“We found out you don’t quite know when these emergencies are coming and you need to be prepared,” Enslow said.

“We had a great time,” Wakefield said. “They had a lot of good questions.”

Designed to work in any type of disaster Wakefield related the system to flooding and lahar possibilities to relate it to local problems. In addition, all training must include some form of terrorist attack preparation.

“We are 500 times more likely to have a natural disaster, but we want to know what to do,” Wakefield said.

According to FEMA, the system is set up to constantly update and check progress of the officials and responders that are involved.

“If there is another emergency like the flooding, this helps us prepare,” Enslow said.