The Office of Domestic Preparedness/Office of Homeland Security sponsors several federally funded programs that are designed to train emergency personnel (EMS, Fire, HAZMAT, and Law Enforcement) to respond to an incident involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The courses are fully funded by the Office of Domestic Preparedness; no expense is incurred by the student, his or her sponsoring jurisdiction, or the state. Two of the training sites offer students Train the Trainer certification that will allow them to return to their departments or jurisdictions and conduct awareness level training.
Center for Domestic Preparedness-Fort McClellan; Anniston, Alabama
This site offers several courses dealing with the management of a chemical agent attack. Students receive lectures and participate in practical exercises that will prepare them to respond to a chemical agent attack. The courses culminate with each student participating in practical exercises conducted in a live nerve agent environment. This training is extremely realistic and provides the first responder with the training and confidence to respond to an actual chemical agent incident. Students who complete the WMD Hazardous Materials Technician course (HT) and/or the Technical Emergency Response Training Course (TERT) are eligible to request certification as a WMD awareness instructor through the Office of Domestic Preparedness. Other courses that are designed for law enforcement officers and courses on the basic Incident Command System are also taught at this site. CEUs are awarded.
The WMD Hazardous Materials Technician Course is designed for certified hazardous materials technicians, but the Technical Emergency Response Training Course is open to all first responders.
Round trip airfare and ground transportation from the airport to the training site and back to the airport will be provided by the Center for Domestic Preparedness. Lodging and all meals are provided at the training site at no charge to the student.
Course schedule, application, and medical release forms can be obtained at the CDP web site.
Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings (IRTB)
This is a four-day course taught at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology National Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center, in Socorro, New Mexico.
This course is designed to provide all first responders with a familiarization of the types of improvised explosive devices that maybe used in a terrorist attack. This course is not intended to train first responders to “render safe” improvised devices nor does it certify or train responders as bomb technicians. Responders who attend this course are certified as Train the Trainers allowing them to teach this course at the awareness level.
This course is open to all first responders, and CEUs are awarded.
New Mexico Tech is in the process of developing a Suicide Bombing course that will be on line later this year or early in 2005. This course is primarily designed for management personnel who will be involved in the development of policy regarding suicide bombings.
Round trip airfare to and from Albuquerque, New Mexico is arranged by Paradise Travel and paid for by New Mexico Tech. Transportation is not provided; students are required to rent a car at the Albuquerque, New Mexico airport and drive to Socorro, where the course is located. Lodging is provided by New Mexico Tech at a hotel in Socorro, but students are responsible for meals. Socorro is a very small town but students will use their rental cars to commute the 10 minutes to New Mexico Tech each day. Prior to leaving, you will complete a travel claim to be reimbursed for your meals (per-diem) and the rental car.
Course schedule, application, and medical release forms can be obtained at the National Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center.
Radiologic/Nuclear Hazardous Materials Technician Course
This is a five-day course presented by the US Department of Energy Nevada Test Site (National Exercise, Test, and Training Center, NTS) in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is designed to prepare emergency personnel to respond to a terrorist incident involving a nuclear or radiologic agent. This course is primarily designed for hazardous material response personnel certified to the operations or technician level, but is open to all first responders. This course does not certify students as Train the Trainers. CEUs are awarded.
Students are responsible for purchasing a round-trip plane ticket, but are reimbursed for the cost of the airfare at the end of the course. Transportation from the airport and return is provided by the training site. Lodging is provided at a Las Vegas Hotel/Casino, located about 30 miles from the Las Vegas Strip. Breakfast and dinner are provided at the hotel, and lunch is served at the training site.
A course schedule, application, and medical release form can be obtained by making a request for this information to mailto:ctosreq@nv.doe.gov or by calling (702) 295-3224.
Application Process
Request an application from the course you
wish to attend. Have it signed by your supervisor or EMS Chief.
Forward your application to Mike Grant, who is the Maine State
Training Coordinator. Mr. Grant will then review the application
and forward it to the respective training site. Mr. Grant’s
contact information is:
Office: (207) 626-4503
Fax: (207) 626-4499
Email: mailto:michael.grant@state.me.us
Ed. note: John says he’s hoping I/Cs
will also pass this information along to students, co-workers,
and other EMS providers. He will be working on an article for the
Journal of Maine EMS soon, as well, but we I/Cs can start passing
the word now. John’s contact information is: telephone 626-3860,
e-mail john.p.bastin@maine.gov.
© 2004 by Jacqueline B. Vaniotis and John Bastin