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Jessica Navarro
02/11/2022

Emergency Management in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) is the agency in charge of

Emergency Management in the state of Pennsylvania and works under the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania.

PEMA helps communities and citizens mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and

recover from emergencies including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other human-made

disasters (PEMA, 2022). It also gives the opportunity of education, professional development

training, and technical training to public safety volunteers. In addition, PEMA administers a

statewide Emergency Exercise Program and oversees the Pennsylvania Emergency

Management Coordinator Certification Program (PEMA, 2022).

Levels of Certification

PEMA provides the certification for local and county coordinators and staff, as shown

below:

• Local Municipal Basic Certification.

• Local Municipal Advanced Certification.

• Local Municipal Professional Certification.

• County Certification Basic.

• County Certification Advanced.

• County Certification Professional.

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Pennsylvania law requires that the emergency management coordinator at each level of

government earn two levels of certification (PEMA, 2022). They must be completed through

PEMA, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). According to the PEMA’s

Directive 2017-02: Emergency Management Certification and Training Requirements (See

Attachment A), the requirements for certification of local (Table 1) and county (Table 2)

emergency management coordinators are as follows:

Table 1

Local EMC certification

Local Basic Certification Local Advanced Certification Local Professional certification

County program orientation IS-3 Radiological Emergency IS-15 Special Events

including duties and
responsibilities
Initial damage reporting
IS-100 Intro to Incident Command
System, ICS 100
IS-200 ICS for single Resources &
Initial Action Incidents
IS-230 Fundamentals of
Emergency Management
IS-235 Emergency Planning Course
IS-240 Leadership and Influence
Course
IS-700 National Incident
Management System: An
Introduction
IS-775 EOC Management and
Operations
Management
IS-5 An introduction to Hazardous
Materials
IS-241 Decision Making and
Problem Solving
IS-242 Effective Communication
IS-244 Developing and Managing
Volunteers
IS-271 Anticipating Hazardous
Weather and Community Risk
IS-702 NIMS Public Information
Systems or
G-289 Public Information Officer
Awareness
G-191 ICS/EOC Interface Workshop
ICS-300 or G-300 Intermediate ICS
for Expanding Incidents
Contingency Planning
or
IS-366 Planning for the Needs
of Children in Disasters
IS-130 Exercise Evaluation and
Improvement Planning
IS-703 NIMS Resource
Management
G-235 Emergency Planning
G-290 Basic Public Information
Officer
ICS-400 or G-400 Advanced ICS
Written Endorsement of
jurisdiction’s county
coordinator.
Coordinators, Deputy
Coordinators, and staff must
attend two of the four county
quarterly trainings.
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IS-800 National Response Service at the basic certification

Framework: An Introduction
Coordinators, Deputy
Coordinators, and staff must
attend two of the four county
quarterly trainings.
Written Endorsement of
jurisdiction’s county coordinator.
level for 1 year
Coordinators, Deputy Coordinators,
and staff must attend two of the
four county quarterly trainings.
Written Endorsement of
jurisdiction’s county coordinator.

Table 1

County EMC certification

County Basic Certification County Advanced Certification County Professional Certification

PEMA Area Office Orientation
including Duties & Responsibilities
Course
Initial Damage Reporting
IS-3 Radiological Emergency
Management
IS-5 An introduction to Hazardous
Materials
IS-100 Intro to Incident Command
System, ICS 100
IS-120 An introduction to
Exercises
IS-200 ICS for Single Resources &
Initial Action Incidents
IS-230 Fundamentals of
Emergency Management
IS-235 Emergency Planning
IS-240 Leadership and Influence
IS-130 Exercise Evaluation and
Improvement Planning
IS-393 Introduction to Mitigation
or
G-318 Local Hazard Mitigation
Planning
IS-547 Introduction to Continuity
of Operations
K/L-146 Homeland Security
Exercise Evaluation Program
(HSEEP)
G-235 Emergency Planning
G-271 Hazardous Weather and
Flooding Preparedness
G-289 Public Information Officer
Awareness
ICS-300 or G-300 Intermediate
ICS for Expanding Incidents
Service at the basic certification
level for one year
Coordinators and deputy
coordinators must attend one
Incident Service training sessions
provided by your Area Office and
one emergency management
related conference. Staff must
IS-15 Special Events Contingency
Planning
IS-366 Planning for the Needs of
Children in Disasters
IS-703 NIMS Resource
Management
G-205 Recovery from Disaster:
The Local Government Role
G-290 Basic Public Information
Officer
G-386 Mass Fatalities Incident
Response
G-393 Mitigation for Emergency
Managers
G-557 Rapid Needs Assessment
ICS-400 or G-400 Advanced ICS
Service at the advanced
certification level for one year
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attend two of the four county

quarterly trainings.
IS-241 Decision Making and Successful program review by the Written endorsement of PEMA
Problem Solving requisite PEMA Area Office Area Director
IS-242 Effective Communication
IS-244 Developing and Managing
Volunteers
IS-700 National Incident
Management System: An Intro
IS-800 National Response
Framework: An Intro
G-191 ICS/EOC Interface
Workshop
Successful completion of
functional exercise (Coordinator
Only)
Passing score on written exam
Attend one of the In-Service
training sessions provided by your
Area Officer and one emergency
management related conference.
Staff must attend two of the four
county quarterly trainings.

PEMA requires to complete the basic certification within one year of appointment, the

advanced certification within three years of appointment, and professional certification is

voluntary and could be completed after finishing the basic and advanced certifications. The

above, applies to the local and county Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC).

PEMA is always working to improve their protocols. That is why, PEMA is working on

renewing Directive 2017-02 but is still under review (there is not an effective date yet). Follow

the link to see the draft: https://www.pema.pa.gov/Documents/PEMA-Certification-Directive-

Draft-For-Comment.pdf.
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Selecting an Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC)

The Emergency Management Services Code requires the Pennsylvania Emergency

Management Council to nominate an EMC who is then appointed by the Governor. But, in the

Emergency Management Handbook for Elected Officials, it is mentioned that “in the case of a

county coordinator, the county commissioners (or equivalent in the home rule counties)

forward the documentation for their nominee to PEMA through the appropriate PEMA Area

Office”, (2010).

According to the Title 35 Pa.C.S.A. Health and Safety, the county and local

coordinators are appointed as follows:

(a) General rule. --Each local organization of emergency

management shall have a coordinator who shall be responsible for
the planning, administration, and operation of the local
organization subject to the direction and control of the
executive officer or governing body.
(b) County coordinator. --A coordinator shall be appointed in
all counties with approval of the director of the agency. The
executive officer or governing body of the county shall
recommend a coordinator whose recommendation must be endorsed by
the director of the agency prior to appointment by the Governor.
Upon failure of the executive officer or governing body of the
county to make a recommendation of a person for coordinator
within the time fixed by the agency, the Governor is authorized
to appoint a coordinator based upon the recommendation of the
director of the agency. The coordinator of the county
organization shall not be assigned any duties that will conflict
with his duty as coordinator.
(c) Local level. --At the local level, the coordinator shall
be appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the
executive officer or governing body of the political
subdivision. Upon the failure of the executive officer or
governing body of a political subdivision to make a
recommendation to the Governor of a candidate for coordinator
within the time fixed by the agency, the Governor is authorized
to appoint a coordinator without any recommendation. A candidate
for coordinator for two or more political subdivisions may be
recommended to the Governor for appointment upon agreement by
resolution of the governing bodies of such political
subdivisions. Any other law notwithstanding, a local government
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official may be recommended for appointment. (Section 7502)

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References

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (2010, January). Emergency Management Handbook for

Elected Officials. Montgomery County Pennsylvania. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from

https://www.montcopa.org/DocumentCenter/View/484/PEMA---Emergency-

Management-Handbook-for-Elected-Officials---2010?bidId=

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. (2022). About Us. PEMA. Retrieved February 11,

2022, from https://www.pema.pa.gov/About-Us/Pages/default.aspx

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. (2022). Information for Government Partners.

PEMA. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from

https://www.pema.pa.gov/Preparedness/Training-Exercises/For-Government-

Partners/Pages/default.aspx

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. (2015, August 15). PEMA Directive 2017-02:

Emergency Management Certification and Training Requirements (PDF). PEMA. Retrieved

February 11, 2022, from https://www.pema.pa.gov/Directives/Documents/2018-

Earlier/D2017-02-EM-Certification-Training-Directive.pdf

Statutes of Pennsylvania and the Constitution of Pennsylvania. (1975). Pennsylvania Statutes

Title 35 Pa.C.S.A. Health and Safety. Pennsylvania General Assembly. February 11, 2022,

from
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https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=35&div

=0&chpt=75&sctn=2&subsctn=0
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Attachment A
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