Proficiency levels are related to competencies and delineate "The degree of understanding of the subject matter and its practical application through training and performance...".71 The following proficiency levels were defined for the Emergency Management Competency Taxonomy in Emergency Management Principles and Practices for Healthcare Systems: (1) Awareness Level: Represents an understanding of the knowledge/skills/abilities encompassed by the competency, but not to a level of capability to adequately perform the competency actions within the organization's system. (2) Operations Level: Represents the knowledge/skills/abilities to safely and effectively perform the assigned tasks and activities within the organization's system in the projected context (e.g., emergency response), including use of equipment as necessary. (3) Expert Level: Represents operations-level proficiency plus the additional knowledge/skills/abilities to apply expert judgment to solve problems and make complex decisions. See "Competency"