FARMINGTON – Towns in Androscoggin and Oxford counties, as well as county officials and others, are responding well to the training requirements of the National Incident Management System, according to the emergency management directors of the two counties.

Franklin County Emergency Management Agency Assistant Director Olive Toothaker said Tuesday that towns, hospital and emergency medical services and required agencies have either reported or are starting to report information that shows that they have undergone training. Municipalities and the county government also need to have emergency management plans adopted, which already has been completed in Franklin County, Toothaker said.

The National Incident Management System sets out a chain-of-incident command if an emergency or disaster occurs.

The director of Maine’s EMA, Robert McAleer, told Franklin County commissioners, in a letter dated Sept. 11, that the county needs to come into compliance with NIMS and that availability of future federal grant money, including Homeland Security funds and Assistance to Firefighters, hinged on complying with the training by Oct. 1.

Franklin County commissioners pledged last week to do what needs to be done to bring the county into compliance. They were having notices sent to county employees, and county EMA Director Tim Hardy was sending a copy of McAleer’s letter to municipalities.

Franklin County Sheriff Dennis Pike said he was picking up hardcover copies of the training manual to help employees who haven’t undergone training to do so and delivering his own level 700 training certificate, an introduction to NIMS that he earned in 2005, to the county EMA office on Tuesday.

Pike said he and Commissioner Fred Hardy went through the introduction course together. He was under the impression, Pike said, that the state would send a master list of who was trained to those who needed that information.

There are different levels of training required depending on the nature of jobs, and training is ongoing for some.

“Most of our towns are responding very well,” Oxford County EMA administrative assistant Allyson Hill said. “It’s a lot of work, a lot of planning. Everybody is making a really good attempt to get it done. They understand it is tied to a good amount of federal funding. “

Hill said the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department has teamed with the EMA and is on board with necessary training and assessments.

Oxford County EMA has a NIMS section on its Web site and has information entered onto its data base, Hill said.

Androscoggin County Emergency Director Joanne Potvin said her county is doing “very well.”

Commissioners, elected officials, school officials, sheriff’s department and others have been trained, she said.

Potvin said they are bringing the training right to the people who need it, if necessary.

“Not everybody is computer-literate, and we try to meet their needs,” she said, including holding Saturday sessions.

They can do the training online or come right into their classroom, Potvin said.

“We are about to begin another level of training,” she added.