Tennessee Emergency Management Agency officials did not make sure all coordinators completed all required training courses, according to a performance audit state Comptrollers released late last week. Specifically, TEMA officials did not make sure between 26 to 60 Emergency Services Coordinators completed training courses, as required by the agency’s Training Policies and Procedures, auditors wrote. State officials task TEMA with coordinating, preparing, responding to and offering recovery from man-made, natural, and technological hazards. According to the report, various state employees and volunteers did not complete courses pertaining to Incident Command Training, Intra-State Mutual Aid, Emergency Management Software Training, and Emergency Worker Training, among various other required courses. According to the report, TEMA management told auditors they remind ESCs about monthly training requirements and provide them with annual reports detailing their completion or incompletion of required training courses. Some of the ESCs tell TEMA “they do not attend all of the required trainings due to other requirements such as their own jobs or busy working emergencies.” Also, they “might not attend training because they are volunteers and are not reimbursed for being an ESC.” “Furthermore, based on our discussions, TEMA seems to place emphasis on its required training courses; however, TEMA…
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