Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) is committed to building a safer, more resilient state by equipping emergency professionals, first responders, and community leaders with the skills they need to protect lives and property. Through a wide range of specialized programs, WEM provides training opportunities that meet national standards and prepare participants to respond effectively to any crisis.
Emergency Response Training
Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) has an online training portal at www.trainingwisconsin.org. This system is used for the registration process for various training programs offered through WEM.
The website allows emergency managers, first responders, and others from across the state to register online for local, state, and federal classes. The training portal allows the student to keep track of completed courses and print certificates. The full catalog of courses from WEM and its partner agencies is available on the site. Users can view upcoming sessions and any required prerequisites for the training.
This Training Portal was funded by Homeland Security Dollars through a grant offered by the former Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance (OJA).
For additional information about the training portal, please contact Troy Klemstein, Training and Exercise Supervisor, at troy.klemstein@widma.gov or 608-982-6486.
Hazardous Materials Training
Wisconsin’s hazardous materials (hazmat) courses are comprehensive and exceed national training standards in the field of hazmat response training. Standards for the Hazmat training program are found both in the Federal Code CFR 29 and the National Fire Protection Association Standard #472. As of October of 2025 all classes will be based on the NFPA 470 and tied directly to Job Performance Requirements (JPRs). JPRs are vital to the successful qualifying of an individual to a particular Professional Qualifications project standard. JPRs must be specific to indicate the attributes of successful performance on the job.
Core courses include training in First Responder Awareness, First Responder Operations, Hazmat Technician, Specialist, Incident Commander, Hospital Medical Response Training, Safety Officer, WMD and Terrorism. Specialized courses include, Rail Car Safety, WI Sampling Class, Radiation for First Responders, and Mass Decontamination.
The Wisconsin Emergency Management training program offers and extensive array of training opportunities for emergency managers, law enforcement, fire, EMS, public health, local officials, and volunteer organizations.
Description of Hazardous Materials Emergency Planning Grants
The Hazardous Materials Emergency Planning (HMEP) Grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation and administered by the State of Wisconsin. The purpose of this grant program is to increase county, tribal, and local effectiveness in safely and efficiently handling hazardous materials accidents and incidents, enhance implementation of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, and encourage a comprehensive approach to emergency planning, training and exercising by incorporating the unique challenges of responses to transportation situations. The focus of the grant is on the commercial transportation of hazardous materials.
WEM will provide grant funds for county, tribal, and local government for planning, training and exercise activities that are aimed at increasing their jurisdictions’ effectiveness in safely and efficiently handling accidents and incidents related to the commercial transportation of hazardous materials within and through their jurisdictions. These activities may include conducting commodity flow studies; tabletop, functional or full-scale exercise, and numerous hazmat training opportunities for first responders.
Please contact the HMEP Program Manager at WEM for additional information.
Hazardous Materials Response
To provide a high level of hazardous materials response capabilities to local communities, Wisconsin Emergency Management contracts and manages 26 Regional Hazardous Materials Response Teams. The teams are divided into Task Forces: Northeast Task Force, Northwest Task Force, Southeast Task Force, and the Southwest Task Force. These Task Forces are then divided into Type I, Type II, and Type III teams, all with complimentary capabilities and training requirements.
The Wisconsin Hazardous Materials Response System may be activated for an incident involving a hazardous materials spill, leak, explosion, injury or the potential of immediate threat to life, the environment, or property. The Wisconsin Hazardous Materials Response system responds to the most serious of spills and releases requiring the highest level of protective gear. This includes all chemical, biological, or radiological emergencies.
Local (County) Hazardous Materials Response Teams respond to chemical incidents which require a lower level of protective gear but still exceed the capabilities of standard fire departments. Currently, 60 counties have level 4 Hazardous Materials Response Teams. Those teams may provide assistance to surrounding counties and are approved by the Local Emergency Planning Committees.
Wisconsin Certified Emergency Manager Program
Wisconsin Emergency Management, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Emergency Management Association, administers the Wisconsin Certified Emergency Manager program. This program recognizes the individual efforts of dedicated Wisconsin responders, emergency managers and interested persons – both professional and volunteer – as they expand their knowledge and experience to ready themselves to respond to any type of emergency or disaster affecting their municipality, state, tribe or nation. This program fosters a continued culture of excellence among Wisconsin’s emergency management professionals.
REACT Center
The REACT Center is one of the premier training and exercise facilities for emergency and disaster response in the country.
Additional Training Resources
- Center of Domestic Preparedness
- FEMA Independent Study Courses
- FEMA Student Identification System
- FEMA Tribal Curriculum
- FEMA Training
- National Disaster Preparedness Training Center
- National Training and Education Division
- NCBRT/Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education
- New Mexico Tech Counterterrorism First Responder Training
- Security and Emergency Response Training Center
- TEEX

