Local Government Homeland Security
Providing expertise to local government in the area of homeland security and disaster preparedness since 2003.
The North Dakota Association of Counties (NDACo) and the North Dakota League of Cities (NDLC) have jointly created the Local Government Homeland Security Training and Exercise Program (LGHSTEP).
This specialized program is designed to aid local governments in meeting the requirements placed on Homeland Security Grant funding by the ND Department of Emergency Services (NDDES) & the US Department of Homeland Security.
LGHSTEP is Your Resource To:
- Design and facilitate your exercise following a progressive schedule as mandated by the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) and NDDES.
- Evaluate your exercise using ODP Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) doctrine.
- Maintain accurate records of your training, planning, conference and exercise statistics such as attendance, functional groups, areas of improvement and areas of satisfaction.
- Prepare your after action report (AAR) following a standard format for ease of use, which will be submitted to you for your review and approval before submission to NDDES.
- Provide specialized training and materials for your staff on communications, crisis management, the National Incident Management System and the Incident Command System. LGHSTEP also coordinates a full range of exercises to help prepare your communities.
- Prepares a summary report of "Lessons Learned" and systemic weaknesses statewide. The information is useful to the state in determining priorities for: training, planning, facilities, equipment, and personnel.
- Saving you and your county's first responders time by incorporating any of the training sessions into the planning conferences or exercises.
LGHSTEP Accomplishments
As of March 2005 LGHSTEP has completed:
- 95 Initial Planning Conferences
- 29 Mid-Term Planning Conferences
- 82 Final Planning Conferences
- 14 Incident Command Training Sessions
- 60 Tabletop Exercises
- 5 Functional Exercises
- 21 Full Scale Exercises
- 8 Crisis Management for Local Officials Seminars
- 4, 818 LGHSTEP Training & Exercise Participants
- 101 NIMS Training Sessions
- 3,045 NIMS Participants
