Offering Overview

The requirement to access broadband data during incidents or events has increased exponentially in recent years. This has spurred the need for personnel with highly specialized knowledge and expertise to be included in the ICS during planned events and incidents. In 2018 and 2019, CISA introduced the ITSL course, and SAFECOM and NCSWIC have coordinated with FEMA NIC and other organizations focused on public safety communications to establish the best way to integrate the ITSL into the ICS. 12 The ITSL is needed to provide information management, cybersecurity, and application management for the many critical incident/event related functions, to include: Incident/Unified Command Post, Incident Communications Centers, and various tactical operations centers, joint information center (JIC), staging areas, and field locations. However, the coordinated sharing of this data across agencies and jurisdictions is significantly less mature than radio communication and poses a significant interoperability challenge. To meet this need, CISA has developed the ITSL course. The ITSL course targets Federal, state/territory, tribal, urban, local, and emergency response professionals, and supports personnel in all disciplines with a communications background and an aptitude for and extensive experience in information technology. The training course provides an overview of the ITSL components including the Unified Help Desk (inclusive of both communications and IT support), IT Infrastructure Manager, Network Manager, and specialist roles. It provides an in-depth overview of their responsibilities and includes exercises for the ITSL’s major functions to ensure reliable and timely delivery of IT services to participating agencies and officials.

Prerequisites for Attendance

• Personal experience:

A public safety background with experience in field operations and/or experience providing information technology solutions to support public safety operations

Awareness of fundamental public safety broadband and wireless communications technology 

Must have completed the following on-line courses from the FEMA EMI website:

o IS-100: Introduction to the Incident Command System, ICS 100

o IS-200: Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response

o IS-700: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System

o IS-800: National Response Framework, An Introduction • Completion of the following in-person classroom instruction:

o ICS-300: Intermediate Incident Command System for Expanding Incidents

Additional recommended training:

o ICS-400: Advanced Incident Command System for Complex Incidents, is recommended but not required

Course Registration Process • SWIC (or designated POC) Action: o Submit student verification form to CISA at least 14 days prior to the class