As a recipient of funding under PAR-12-116, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)proposes to task a private contractor to develop a Food Emergency Response I 420 course thatmeets NWCG curriculum development and training standards. After which, up to 4 RapidResponse Teams (RRT) will be invited to the International Food Protection Training Institute, topilot the 5 day course training.The 5 day I 420 course is designed to prepare students to function as an Incident ManagementTeam (IMT) in the position of incident commander, command or general staff. The focus of thecourse is on team building, collaboration and cooperation, and applying previously acquiredIncident Command System (ICS) knowledge and skills to work efficiently and effectively underwhat can be stressful circumstances. Students will participate in multiple drills and exercisesthroughout the 5 day course which culminates in a day long functional exercise. These exercisesinclude a simulation of the mobilization, incident management, and demobilization phases of arapidly accelerating food borne illness outbreak.Participating RRT states will be tasked with naming and sending an Incident Management Team(IMT) to the course. IMTs will consist of the 8 ICS positions of command and general staff.Members will be required to meet ICS 300 training requirements prior to the course.The MDA proposes utilizing the Food Related Emergency Exercise boxed set (FREE-B) andengage Rapid Response Team members, acting as subject matter experts, to work with thecontractor to ensure curriculum and exercise design are correct and meaningful. As well, MDAwill engage IFPTI to provide logistical support and venue for the Food Emergency Response I420 pilot course.The Food Emergency I 420 pilot project will build upon project objectives to meet the FDA'sgoals of rapid response and recovery of intentional food contamination of the Food SafetyModernization Act. Upon completion of the pilot project, the course will be made available tofederal, state, local, territorial, tribal and private sector partners.
The specific goal of the Innovative Food Defense Program is to generate innovative food defense tools and resources that complement, develop, or may improve State, local, Tribal and territorial food defense programs and which may then be applied to food defense programs nationwide.
