Credentialing Program

The Washington Emergency Management Division Credentialing Program supports the qualification, certification and credentialing of emergency management personnel across Washington state. The program is intended to help ensure that personnel assigned to emergency management positions have the training, experience and demonstrated position-specific competencies needed to support incidents, disasters, planned events, and emergency operations.

The Credentialing Program includes three primary credentialing paths: State Emergency Operations Center credentialing, All-Hazards Incident Management Team credentialing through the Washington Incident Management Qualification Program, and support for local and tribal Emergency Operations Center personnel credentialing.

Through the use of Position Task Books, training requirements, experience documentation, evaluator review and qualification review processes, the program supports a standardized and performance-based approach to emergency management credentialing. These efforts help build and maintain a qualified workforce capable of supporting local, tribal, regional, state, intrastate and interstate emergency management operations.

Emergency Operations Centers

Emergency Operations Centers across the state play a critical role in managing emergencies, disasters and planned events at every level. By bringing together representatives from diverse organizations, Emergency Operations Centers facilitate the flow of resources and information across organizational lines. Emergency Operations Centers vary widely. Some support multiple disciplines in a single jurisdiction, while others support a single discipline across multiple jurisdictions. All operate under varying authorities with diverse resources and missions.

The Emergency Operations Center Personnel Credentialing Framework provides a framework to support the creation of Authority Having Jurisdiction Emergency Operations Center credentialing plans in Washington state.

The goal of the Emergency Operations Center Personnel Credentialing Framework is to provide a framework that Emergency Operations Centers throughout the state can use to develop and implement their own credentialing plans based on their organizational structure and personnel assignments. The framework is intended to promote uniformity in the approach to credentialing Emergency Operations Center personnel across jurisdictions while also supporting diversity in specific credentials and practices to best meet the needs of each jurisdiction and agency.

Emergency Operations Center Documents

Washington Emergency Operations Center Personnel Credentialing Framework (2023)

State Emergency Operations Center Position Task Books

The State Emergency Operations Center Position Task Books are used to support the qualification, certification and credentialing of personnel assigned to State Emergency Operations Center positions. Each task book identifies the tasks, behaviors, and competencies trainees must demonstrate to become credentialed in the corresponding State Emergency Operations Center role.

These task books are available for State Emergency Operations Center personnel working through the credentialing process and for partner agencies or jurisdictions that want to review or reference Washington EMD’s State Emergency Operations Center credentialing model.

All documents below are PDFs.

Incident Management Teams

Qualification standards are essential to Washington’s emergency management community to ensure that individuals or members of an All-Hazards Incident Management Team (AHIMT) follow unified attributes and conformed standards. These standards allow any community to plan for, request and utilize these resources with high confidence in their technical and professional abilities. Qualification standards ensure unity of effort for response personnel to be matched by a community's request and bolsters effective resource management of deployed responders.

Implementation of Washington AHIMT position qualification standards ensures that both the requesting community and providing entity in Washington, or from another state, receive qualified incident management personnel (skills, experience and technical abilities) using the equivalent certification criteria. The Washington Emergency Management Division is committed to improving emergency management and response capabilities for members of any AHIMT throughout Washington.

The state of Washington adopted the All-Hazards Incident Management Team Association (AHIMTA) Interstate Incident Management Qualifications System Guide (IIMQS) in 2022. The IIMQS provides a framework of best practices to develop, assess, apply and sustain a qualification program for All-Hazards incident management personnel. It promotes a common understanding of the fundamental standards to be used by the certification body for individuals to develop and certify toward the National Incident System (NIMS) Incident Command System (ICS) credentialing structure.

Incident Management Qualification Documents

Washington Incident Management Qualification Program (PDF)

All-Hazards Incident Management Team Position Task Books