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First Responder Emergency Planning. (FREP)

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Tal Ehlers, MEP

In 1998, emergency preparedness became of great personal importance to Tal. Making his family more secure by preparing for the unexpected became a major priority. Thank goodness it did. Over the next ten years this country and the world would see many unexpected events. Y2K, 9/11, the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, Hurricane Katrina and countless other natural and man made disasters. Through it all, being personally prepared has left Tal and his family feeling a remarkable sense of peace and security. Whether it was a temporary power outage or a flash flood there was always a feeling of self-confidence knowing if the roads shut down or the grocery stores emptied of bottled water that his family would be safe and sound.

Today, Tal's passion for emergency preparedness has saturated his personal life and his spare time. Not only does he practice what he preaches in his own home, he also spends countless hours each month helping others in his community, county, and state to work towards their own personal preparedness and self sufficiency goals.

Tal has completed multiple courses at the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmitsburg, Maryland including the Master Exercise Practitioner Program (MEP). EMI is the lead national emergency management training, exercising, and education institution.

Through conferences and department trainings Tal speaks across the country to Law Enforcement, Fire and EMS organizations regarding personal emergency preparedness. He trains families and individuals through private consultation how to become prepared for the majority of disasters that they may face. He is also a monthly radio show guest for Mid-Utah Radio.

Tal's experience also overflows to that of a First Responder. He is a Firefighter/EMT-I as well as being Hazmat Operations and Wildland Fire certified. He is a SWAT Medic for the County Sheriff’s office, an officer with the Search and Rescue Posse and serves as the Public Information Officer (PIO) for several county organizations. He is a contract Trainer/Instructor for the Utah Department of Public Safety; a Division of Homeland Security.

He also sits as his county’s Citizen Corps vice chair. He is certified as a "Multihazard Emergency Planning for Schools" trainer by the Emergency Management Institute as well as having received multiple National Incident Management System (NIMS) certifications from this institute. He is a state certified trainer for the Community Emergency Response Team program. Tal has also served as the past county Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) Co-Chair.

Tal speaks regularly to civic and church groups regarding emergency and personal preparedness. His message is that being prepared doesn’t mean that you’re a survivalist and that you should start digging foxholes in your front yard. Being prepared means that should something out of the ordinary happen in your community, you can make it through with a greater degree of comfort until a sense of normalcy returns.

Tal resides with his wonderful wife and five children in rugged southern Utah. His hobbies include camping, hunting, rock crawling and four-wheeling the beautiful back roads of Utah's wilderness.

Education and Certifications

  • Master Exercise Practitioner (MEP), FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI).
  • Firefighter I, ll, Utah Fire Service Certification Council.
  • Emergency Medical Technician – Intermediate (EMT-I), Utah Department of Health.
  • Wayne County Search and Rescue, Officer and Reporter, PIO.
  • TEMS (Tactical EMS), Weber State University / Utah Department of Health.
  • Hazardous Materials Operations, Utah Fire Service Certification Council.
  • Wildland Fire Certification, Utah Fire Service Certification Council.
  • Prevention & Response to Suicide Bombing Incidents, TTT, New Mexico Tech EMRTC.
  • Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings, TTT, New Mexico Tech EMRTC.
  • Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS), National Disaster Life Support Foundation
  • Advanced Disaster Life Support (ADLS), National Disaster Life Support Foundation
  • Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP), TTT, Department of Homeland Security
  • Utah Hunter Education Instructor, Utah State Division of Wildlife Resources.
  • Advanced Public Information Officer (PIO) Course, FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI).
  • Incident Command System (ICS) Curricula, TTT, FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI).
  • Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools, TTT, FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI).
  • Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), TTT, FEMA and Department of Homeland Security
  • AED/CPR/First Aid Instructor, EMS Safety Services
  • Ham Radio Operator, KE7IOK
  • Bilingual (English and Spanish)

*The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) created the Master Exercise Practitioner Program (MEP) to recognize those individuals who have completed prescribed training and demonstrated, through hands-on application, a high degree of professionalism and capability in the arena of emergency management exercises.

Individuals that have completed EMI’s Master Exercise Practitioner Program are empowered to place “MEP” after their names in recognition of their accomplishment.

** (TTT) Train-the-Trainer. This certification authorizes the individual to train and teach the curriculum.