YOU CAN BE PART OF THE TEAM!
If you have the desire to volunteer your time to help your community in a time of need, then IMERT may have a volunteer opportunity for you. Review our position descriptions to see what volunteer roles are available.
General Requirements for Team Members
The following are general requirements that all IMERT members should meet in order to comply with mobilization standards and performance requirements.
- Must be at least 18 years of age.
- Must be a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.
- Must have a valid state issued photo ID.
- Must maintain a current and unrestricted license, certification, or registration where required by the Team position.
- Must be physically fit to handle the rigors of disaster event environments.
- Members are required to have up-to-date contact and medical information on file. Any changes/additions must be reported to the IMERT office in a timely manner.
- Must maintain a text capable messaging device (pager or cell phone) to receive activation notifications.
- Must attend scheduled mandatory continuing education sessions and team meetings.
- Must attend the initial fact-to-face training before they are considered deployable.
- Must adhere to the IMERT Code of Conduct and all policies pertaining to team participation, involvement, and activities.
- Must have completed the federally mandated FEMA Incident Command ICS 100, ICS 200, and NIMS ICS 700.
- Must have completed a WMD course, which is a HazMat Awareness training or military equivalent basic instruction on responding to and operating in a CBRNE MCI. Suggestions for courses are available under Prerequisite Training on our website.
Ongoing Membership Requirements
Participation – All Team Members must participate in at two trainings a year, at least one of these must be face-to-face. For the second training, members may participate any IMERT sponsored exercises, drills (including communication drills), or online training modules.
Physical Fitness – Moderate physical fitness requirement – The duties require occasional fieldwork performed by individuals with average endurance and physical conditioning. Individuals usually set their own pace. Disasters demand strenuous activity over long periods of time. Activities include standing for long periods, walking, stooping, and moderate lifting. Long hours of work may be necessary; 8-12 hour shifts are typical on deployment.
Criminal Background Checks – All IMERT team members are subject to criminal background checks at the time of acceptance to the team as well as periodically throughout their tenure as team members per the direction of IMERT. Convictions Which Serve as Bar to Licensure/Employment that Allows Access to Children in the State of Illinois will be grounds for denial of membership or dismissal. A list of these can be found HERE.
All applicants are hereby advised of their rights to view, correct and challenge criminal history record information. Additional instructional information is located online at http://www.isp.state.il.us/crimhistory/viewingchrircds.cfm .
How to Apply
Applying to IMERT is done in three stages. First, the Preliminary Application stage, where volunteers submit the initial documentation required for team membership. Once the preliminary application package has been reviewed and approved, volunteers will then take part in a short introduction and interview with IMERT’s Director over the phone. After the interview, volunteers will be given access to the Application for Membership, which must be completed within 30 days.
Before you can submit a preliminary application, make sure you meet all of the General Team Requirements listed above. Then you must complete the following online training requirements. These are:
- IS-700 National Incident Management System, An Introduction
- IS-100 Introduction to Incident Command System, I-100
- IS-200 Basic Incident Command System, I-200
- Approved WMD Course, one of the following:
- Hazmat Awareness
- CBRNE response equivalent.
Please contact the office if you are not sure the WMD course you have completed will qualify, apply@imert.org.
Preliminary Application Package
To be given access to the application, you must first submit copies of the following required documents. If ALL of the relevant documents are not submitted, your preliminary application will not be considered. You must submit all of the following documents together in one package, email, or fax. Documents submitted individually, or packages that are incomplete will not be considered and will be discarded.
- Current resume
- Your contact information and email
- IS-700 National Incident Management System certificate
- IS-100 Introduction to Incident Command System, I-100 certificate
- IS-200 Basic Incident Command System, I-200 certificate
- A copy of your WMD course certificate
- A copy of your drivers license or state ID
- A copy of your medical license if applicable to the position you are applying
- Copies of any certificates applicable to the position you are applying
- Copies of any credentials applicable to the position you are applying
- If you are applying for a Non-Medical position, a completed copy of the Non-Medical Position Assignment Form
Download the Non Medical Position Assignment Form. To save to your desktop, right click the link and select “Save Target As”. If you are completing the form on your computer, make sure you save your responses before printing or emailing the file.
To submit the Preliminary Application Package, you may email the materials to apply@imert.org, fax the materials to 877.IMERT.60 (877.463.7860) or mail to:
IMERT Warehouse and Training Center
2806 Corporate Parkway
Algonquin, IL, 60102
Application for Membership
Once you have submitted a COMPLETE preliminary application package, you will receive access to the formal application within 15 days after the materials have been reviewed. You will have 30 days to complete the Application for Membership.
PDF documents require Adobe Acrobat. Don’t have Adobe Acrobat? Get it here. Don’t have internet access or access to a printer? Call the office to have any relevant preliminary application materials sent to you. 630-701-5344 or 630-701-5345.
Please contact the office if you have any questions or concerns regarding our application process before submitting the preliminary materials.