April 12, 2021 MACOMB, IL – Earlier this month, Western Illinois University's Emergency Management program collaborated with the Emergency Operation Center Project (ILETSBEI) and the WIU GIS Center to offer two virtual classes to emergency responders and educators. The mission of the classes was to provide unmanned Aerial System (UAS) certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is mandatory for practitioners and students to be allowed to operate drones and drone-related technology in any professional operations in the area of public safety, from natural disasters, emergencies, to search and rescue. More than 50 students, from local emergency management agencies, police departments, fire departments, the Illinois State Police, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, and WIU faculty and students, attended the two classes.