OK-FIRST participants are selected through a competitive application process. To join OK-FIRST, at least one member of an agency must become a “full participant” be completing a full certification workshop. These workshops are typically held twice per year. Check the OK-FIRST announcements section for dates and details of upcoming workshops, or contact OK-FIRST with any certification questions.

Full Participants

Full participants are those who earn OK-FIRST accreditation for their agency. They are selected through a competitive application process twice per year. Successful applicants are invited to attend the upcoming OK-FIRST "Full Certification" workshop (details below). OK-FIRST full participants are responsible for their agency's use of the OK-FIRST username and password, and for keeping themselves and their agency in compliance with OK-FIRST policies. Requirements for full certification in OK-FIRST are:

• Participants must be an employee or appointed official of a government agency (local/municipal, state, regional, tribal, federal or municipal) involved in public safety. Access is granted through this agency.
• Incoming participants must receive the endorsement of an official of the jurisdiction to be served (for example, a county commissioner, mayor, city manager, commanding officer, etc.).
• Incoming participants must successfully complete the OK-FIRST data interpretation workshop (also known as the "full course" or "four-day course"). Full courses are held in Norman, on the campus of the National Weather Center. Travel, lodging and per diem expenses will be reimbursed by OK-FIRST.
• Participants maintain OK-FIRST eligibility by attending at least one recertification course every 18 months. Recertification courses are offered about ten times per year, often in regional Technology Centers

Full Certification Workshops

Full Certification workshops are held in Norman, on the campus of the National Weather Center. Depending on scheduling, the course will last four or five days. Full certification workshops feature a mix of classroom/lecture material, hands-on data interpretation labs/simulations, and visits to various offices of the National Weather Center. The workshops' objectives are:

• Understand the requirements and responsibilities of participation in the OK-FIRST program and the relationship between his/her public safety agency and OCS, OK-FIRST, and Mesonet.
• Understand and appreciate the importance of the local public safety professional and his/her relationship with other weather decision-makers to improving and managing weather-impacted scenarios.
• Build a sufficient level of technological skills and computer literacy to confidently operate within the OK-FIRST environment.
• Understand certain meteorological fundamentals, applied concepts and weather phenomena that are relevant to public safety decision-makers.
• Understand the fundamentals of various weather observing platforms and weather data sources.
• Confidently integrate knowledge of observations and conceptual models of weather phenomena into real-world situations.

OK-FIRST full certification workshops are worth 24 hours of C.L.E.E.T. credit for eligible peace officers. Fire service and EMT accreditation are pending.

Agencies with full participants that plan to retire or otherwise plan to transition their OK-FIRST certification are encouraged to contact OK-FIRST staff about pending agency changes, and to send the replacement to the OK-FIRST Full Certification workshop before the transition occurs.

OK-FIRST Assistant's Courses

OK-FIRST agencies often desire to train additional staffers to provide support during weather-impacted situations. To meet this demand, OK-FIRST offers a two-day Assistant's Course. These courses provide a subset of the material presented in the Full Certification courses. OK-FIRST is unable to provide travel support to these workshops, but they are often held in regional Technology Centers to minimize expenses for our participating agencies.

A fully-certified OK-FIRST agency may send as many assistants to an Assistant's workshop, with the following conditions:

• The OK-FIRST full participant approves their attendance, and
• Space/seating limitations may apply.

Public safety personnel completing OK-FIRST Assistant's workshops are welcome to attend re-certification workshops.

OK-FIRST Assistants' workshops are worth 12 hours of C.L.E.E.T. credit for eligible peace officers. Fire service and EMT accreditation are pending.

OK-FIRST Recertification Courses

About ten recertification courses are held per year. These are typically one-day courses held in regional Technology Centers. Topics addressed in recertification courses may include the following:

• Program Updates (examples: new accreditation opportunities, policies, personnel)
• Training for New Datasets (ex: lightning data, new fire models)
• Re-Visiting Fundamental Topics (ex: radar interpretation of supercells, using Mesonet data)
• In-depth Treatment of a Particular Hazard (ex: non-traditional supercells, winter weather)
• Dialogue with non-OK-FIRST personnel concerned with OK-FIRST and public safety (ex: OCS software developers, NWS forecasters)

C.L.E.E.T. accreditation for recertification courses (six hours) is pending, as are Fire Service and EMT accreditation.