Deployment Ready: Evolving NWS Impact-Based Decision Support Services (Invited Presentation)

In order to support the evolution of the National Weather Service (NWS), and to help build a Weather-Ready Nation, the NWS has placed an emphasis on training to provide Impact-based Decision Support Services (IDSS). In the fall of 2017 the NWS rolled out the IDSS Professional Development Series (PDS). The IDSS PDS consists of two parts: baseline training for all operational employees on the basic tenets and importance of IDSS, and advanced training for those interested in providing direct, on-site support to NWS core partners. This voluntary advanced training, consisting of approximately 120 hours of instruction, culminates with the designation of the employee as Deployment-Ready. This signifies that they have sufficient skill and experience to embed within a partner organization and provide environmental intelligence to support their decision-making process.

Deployments for NWS personnel are nothing new, many offices have deployed personnel in support of local incidents on an ad-hoc basis, and the Incident Meteorologist (IMET) program has been an integral part of the wildland fire community for well over 80 years. The IDSS PDS is intended to provide a consistent framework of training and operating procedures across all NWS offices and hazard types. This presentation will highlight portions of the IDSS PDS and how it is enabling NWS employees to be Deployment-Ready.