Because spring weather is already upon us, and because of events beyond my control last fall, this past week I just got around to checking back with Tarrant County RACES to verify the FEMA Incident Command Courses I needed to be certified. I've wanted to do this for a long time, but as this time of year is the time when most RACES events occur, I put it off. Consequently, this week I have completed both the IS-100 Incident Command and IS-700 NIMS courses. These are available online at no cost, and include a straight-forward posttest that one can d/l and review prior to taking it. A SKYWARN certificate is another matter. I wasn't in town Feb. 3rd when the 8-hour Tarrant County class took place. Instead I went to the TESSA (Texas Severe Storm Association) conference in Colleyville earlier this month. I have a certificate from SKYWARN from 2007 but I can't locate the thing. I'm not sure my TESSA certificate will be sufficient, and because they've changed some of the SKYWARN materials this year, today I'm off to Mansfield for the shortened 3-hour version - first I need to get a nap, having been up all night. Monday I'll mail off the materials and hopefully be quickly approved for certification. EMST & CERT each meet for monthly training sessions. This month EMST met on the 13th at the Channel 11 Fox affiliate station a tour and to meet with weather caster, Christine Kohanek. CERT met the 27th for training on discuss Incident Command structure (just AFTER had completed that FEMA course), and to discuss the upcoming State-Wide disaster drill on April 29th. More on that later. And I need to meet with a couple of people at and about the newly redesigned EOC and my on-going responsibilities. I also need to get a magmount antenna for the car for my radio. I live at the low end of the street in a hilly area, and I'm tired of having to go outside to transmit. Way too dangerous when CTG (cloud to ground) lightening is crashing all around.
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