NORTHPORT, Ala. (WIAT) — Dozens of first responders from different counties in Alabama are in Northport this week taking a class to learn more about how to deal with emergencies like tornados and other hazards.

Nick Lolley, the Tuscaloosa County EMA director says this course is crucial and helps EMA officials and other first responders when large scale disasters happen.

“Not only is EMA in here but we have police and fire and thats who we work with on a day-to-day basis are folks from Red Cross and department of public health and we worked with them a lot in 2020 for COVID. So we are building on skills that we already have but we are fine tuning those,” said Lolley.

This course provides personnel who could be assigned to or work in an Emergency Operations Center, the skills necessary to effectively plan for and manage a large-scale incident by applying and implementing an all-hazards, multi-disciplinary, management team approach. The course places specific emphasis on the planning, resource and information management processes.

Michael Asdel says the class gives his team more tools and knowledge on how to run the Emergency Operations Center when emergencies happen. He is the Shelby County EMA director.

“This class is important for EMA and first responders and working with our partners from different communities because it teaches us how to run an emergency operations center and how to prepare us for a disaster not only during the disaster but the aftermath of a disaster to help us moving forward with recovery,” Asdel said.

The course is being taught by representatives from Texas A&M emergency management. Some of the first responders from Tuscaloosa County, Shelby, Dekalb, Greene, Blount and Jefferson Counties. The two day class is from Tuesday until Wednesday.