N.J. taps GeoLearning for first responder training

GeoLearning Inc. has won a three-year, $2.5 million contract from New Jersey to provide a platform to support first responder training, the company announced Monday.

Under the contract, application service provider GeoLearning of Des Moines, Iowa, will provide an Internet-hosted learning management platform that the state's 145,000 police, fire and emergency medical personnel can access for public safety-related training.

The state also will use the GeoLearning platform to manage competencies, skills development and employee selection and succession planning related to homeland security.

The initiative will let New Jersey deploy the most current disaster response training to first responders in the state through its 23 police academies, 18 fire academies and 212 other eligible training organizations.

GeoLearning's platform will create a virtual academy to let the state manage training records, identify training deficiencies and certify training compliance and readiness among its municipalities and counties.

The virtual academy's course catalog will list all training available to the first responder community from a wide range of sources, including the Red Cross and local police and fire academies.

The state's secondary goal in the initiative is to provide at state and local levels a list of available trained personnel who can be deployed quickly in the event of a crisis.

The training system will track electronic and classroom learning attendance and performance records to create a database which emergency management teams can use in responding to disasters.