FCC Receives $1 Million Federal Grant
Frederick Community College recently received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop a comprehensive course for jurisdictions and first responders nationwide to help them prepare and plan for a variety of potential natural and man-made threats.
FCC will use the funding over three years to create the Complex Attacks Situational Awareness Response course—an online and virtual class that will help about 1,000 emergency management professionals at the local, state and national levels.
The course is designed to help jurisdictions and agencies better work together as they prepare for and respond to any number of potential threats, from physical to cyber-attacks to environmental or utility threats. A complex attack is defined as one that affects multiple jurisdictions at many levels and requires resources to be prioritized based on the risk and situation.
“We are extremely honored to receive this important grant from DHS that will benefit professionals on the front lines of homeland security,” said David Croghan, FCC’s interim vice president for Learning. “We are in a great position as an institution to develop this course. We are able to bring all the pieces together, from the curriculum to the instructors to the digital media and technology.”
The grant complements other emergency management programs offered through FCC’s Mid-Atlantic Center for Emergency Management, which will take the lead on developing the course. Students across the nation take online emergency management courses through the Center. FCC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree and certificate programs and Letters of Recognition in emergency management. Courses are available in both the distance education and traditional classroom formats and taught by seasoned professionals with real-life emergency management experience.
“Graduates from FCC’s emergency management program are significant contributors toward the protection and emergency preparedness of our nation’s communities,” said Kathy Forrest, Emergency Management academic program manager. Professionals in the Mid-Atlantic Center will work with FCC’s Center for Teaching and Learning to develop and present the course content.
With the DHS grant, FCC will develop two components of the course, the first for high-level first responders and managers who would take over incident command in an emergency scenario. The second level will be geared for other line-level public safety workers across the nation.
Topics will include: integrated training to help different teams respond; awareness training for first responders to gather and interpret terrorist tactics during a crisis; communicating with the public in the midst of a crisis; and communications needs between response teams and incident commanders.
“FCC embraces the opportunity to work closely with DHS to further the National Preparedness Goal by developing and delivering course content to increase capabilities that will prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from a variety of threats to our nation,” said Forrest.
For more information about the grant contact Kathy Forrest, email kforrest@frederick.edu.
