In November 2005, NENA signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with IAEM to advance the TERT program.
In December 2005, NENA learned that FEMA was establishing a way to credential responders in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. FEMA‘s credentialing process identifies basic knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) of various response disciplines. Disciplines initially identified were: Fire & Hazardous Materials, Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement, Incident Management, EMS, Medical & Public Health, Public Works and Veterinary. A critical category was missing: telecommunicators. Subsequently, a NENA representative met with various Homeland Security and FEMA leaders to ensure telecommunicators were added to the credentialing process.
In order to achieve this goal, the Association of Public-Safety Officials (APCO), International and NENA created a joint initiative, the National Joint TERT Initiative (NJTI) in 2006. The NENA OID was revamped to become the Model Recommendations for TERT Deployment (MRTD). In May2009, the MRTD successfully was approved as the Standard for TERT Deployment, APCO/NENA ANS 1.105.1-2009 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
Read the full history of TERT and the NJTI.
*from the NJTI website