Alabama Emergency Management Agency Public Portal

L0105: Public Information Basics
2026-05-04 08:00 - 2026-05-06 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Colbert County EMA, 91 Harcourt Morgan Way, Muscle Shoals,, AL, 35661, United States
This course is part of the National Emergency Management Basic Academy being offered in FY26.
Additional courses are:
L0101: Foundations of Emergency Management (March 23-27, 2026) at Cullman County EMA
L0102: Fundamentals of Threats and Hazards (April 13-15, 2026) at Marshall County EMA
L0103: Planning: Emergency Operations (April 16-17, 2026) at Marshall County EMA
L0146: Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program Training Course (May 7-8, 2026) at Colbert County EMA
It is not necessary to attend all of the courses in this sequence.

Course Description

To equip participants with the skills needed to be full or part-time PIOs, including oral and written communications; understanding and working with the media; and basic tools and techniques to perform effectively as a PIO, both in the proactive/ advocacy times and crisis/emergency response.
The learner must achieve a minimum passing score of 75% on final knowledge assessments or demonstrate mastery on performance assessments or research assignments to earn the IACET CEU.
ACE: Level: Upper Division
ACE: Credit Hours: 1
CECs: 12

Course Objectives

Using the strategic communications planning model, develop a public awareness campaign (95%)
Using the strategic communications planning model, develop an incident communications strategy (5%)
Indicate the purpose of a public awareness campaign
Identify the steps in developing a public awareness campaign
Develop a strategy for an awareness campaign on a selected topic
Change the method of developing a plan to follow the 8-step StratCom process
Demonstrate the role and function of the PIO in both day-to-day emergency environments
Compare actions PIOs can take to work with the news media during day-to-day and emergency situation
Describe different public information written products
Apply effective news release writing guidance
Adapt or repurpose written media products for social media
Describe what types of impressions specific body language might convey during an interview
Identify elements of an interview the PIO should consider ahead of time
Identify steps a PIO needs to take to prepare for and conduct a news interview
Demonstrate effective techniques for on-camera interviews

Prerequisites

IS0029.a: Public Information Officer Awareness

L0146: Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Training Course
2026-05-07 08:00 - 2026-05-08 17:00 | Colbert County EMA, 91 Harcourt Morgan Way, Muscle Shoals,, AL, 35661, United States
This course is part of the National Emergency Management Basic Academy being offered in FY26.
Additional courses are:
L0101: Foundations of Emergency Management (March 23-27, 2026) at Cullman County EMA
L0102: Fundamentals of Threats and Hazards (April 13-15, 2026) at Marshall County EMA
L0103: Planning: Emergency Operations (April 16-17, 2026) at Marshall County EMA
L0105: Public Information Basics (May 4-6, 2026) at Colbert County EMA
It is not necessary to attend all of the courses in this sequence.
Course Description:

This is an intermediate-level course designed to provide a set of guiding principles, standardized methodology, available resources and practical skill development, which will assist in developing an HSEEP consistent exercise program. This course describes a common approach to exercise program management, design and development, conduct, evaluation, and improvement planning.

Course Objectives

Understand the role of HSEEP in National Preparedness, and how HSEEP exercise principles and methodology support efforts across the whole community to improve our national capacity to build, sustain, and deliver core capabilities.

Prerequisites

IS0120.c: An Introduction to Exercises

Recommended:

IS0130, Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning

L0146: Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Training Course
2026-05-11 08:00 - 2026-05-12 17:00 | Alabama EMA, 5898 County Road 41, Clanton, AL, 35046, United States
Course Description:

This is an intermediate-level course designed to provide a set of guiding principles, standardized methodology, available resources and practical skill development, which will assist in developing an HSEEP consistent exercise program. This course describes a common approach to exercise program management, design and development, conduct, evaluation, and improvement planning.

Course Objectives

Understand the role of HSEEP in National Preparedness, and how HSEEP exercise principles and methodology support efforts across the whole community to improve our national capacity to build, sustain, and deliver core capabilities.

Prerequisites

IS0120.c: An Introduction to Exercises

Recommended:

IS0130, Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning

L0102: Fundamentals of Threats and Hazards
2026-06-22 08:00 - 2026-06-24 17:00 | Marshall County EMA, 3550 Creek Path Rd, Guntersville, AL, 35976, United States
This course is part of the National Emergency Management Basic Academy being offered in FY26.
Additional courses are:
L0101: Foundations of Emergency Management (March 23-27, 2026) at Cullman County EMA
L0103: Planning: Emergency Operations (April 16-17, 2026) at Marshall County EMA RESCHEDULED for June 25-26, 2026
L0105: Public Information Basics (May 4-6, 2026) at Colbert County EMA
L0146: Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program Training Course (May 7-8, 2026) at Colbert County EMA
It is not necessary to attend all of the courses in this sequence.
Course Description:
This course provides the participants with an overview of how scientific principles can be used before, during and after a disaster; including a basic understanding of scientific terminology as it applies to Emergency Management. The contents of the course include the following:

Overview of scientific principles and the relationship between science and disasters
Overview of climatological principles and weather-based threats and hazards
Overview of earth science principles and geologic threats and hazards
Overview of chemical and biological science and the scientific basis of those threats
Overview of explosive, radiological, and nuclear science and the scientific basis of those threats

Course Objectives:

Indicate how earth science principles and processes influence natural hazards
Indicate how climatological principles and processes influence natural hazards
Indicate how chemical and biological principles and processes influence natural and human-caused hazards and impact society
Indicate the scientific basis for explosive, radiological, and nuclear hazards and their impact on society
Indicate how scientific understanding can improve emergency preparedness

Prerequisites:
Recommended:

IS-100.C: An Introduction to the Incident Command System, ICS 100
IS-120.C: An Introduction to Exercises
IS-200.C: Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response
IS-230.E: Fundamentals of Emergency Management
IS-700.B: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System
IS-800.D: National Response Framework, An Introduction

L0103: Planning: Emergency Operations
2026-06-25 08:00 - 2026-06-26 17:00 | Marshall County EMA, 3550 Creek Path Rd, Guntersville, AL, 35976, United States
This course is part of the National Emergency Management Basic Academy being offered in FY26.
Additional courses are:
L0101: Foundations of Emergency Management (March 23-27, 2026) at Cullman County EMA
L0102: Fundamentals of Threats and Hazards (April 13-15, 2026) at Marshall County EMA RESCHEDULED for June 25-26, 2026
L0105: Public Information Basics (May 4-6, 2026) at Colbert County EMA
L0146: Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program Training Course (May 7-8, 2026) at Colbert County EMA
It is not necessary to attend all of the courses in this sequence.
POC: training@ema.alabama.gov
Course Description:
This course is designed to give basic concepts and planning steps to those new to the field of emergency management so that they may apply planning discipline and skills to challenges in their jobs. The course content includes Emergency Management Planning doctrine and steps to take to accomplish writing plans and using them to deal with special events, which are common challenges for all jurisdictions.
The content also derives from the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101, Developing and Maintaining State, Territorial, Tribal and Local Government Emergency Plans, and its six-step planning process and inclusive whole community philosophy. Likewise, doctrine from the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 201, Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA), is included in the course. Special event planning is then explained in the course, and table group activities to analyze plans for special events are conducted.
Objectives:

Explain the relationships among preparedness, THIRA, and emergency operations planning.
Identify the steps in the emergency planning process and their expected outcomes.
Describe the purpose and components of an Emergency Operations Plan.
Apply the emergency planning principles and process in evaluating an Emergency Operations Plan.

Prerequisites:
None
