Letter from the Chairman

The main focus of our latest NDPC quaterly meeting was the current successes of the consortium and future challenges that we will face, such as the issue of flat budgets.

The consortium will be challenged to maintain its high-quality training without additional funding. However, this is a challenge I feel we can overcome. It requires us to find new ways of doing things, to be innovative and examine our training from a different perspective.

This also means that we must find a way to do more with current resources. Each organization should take a step back and evaluate its operations and training to ensure that the right things are being done and no resources are wasted.

Another topic of discussion was the importance of technology. The use of technology applied to an already efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. Technology, such as video tele-training and synchronized computer-based training, will continue to be incorporated into our training courses.

It is important for the consortium to stay current and use effective technology to assist us in our training and accomplishing our mission.

Jim Fernandez

The swift and organized response to a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, or VBIED, found in New York City’s Times Square on May 1, 2010 underscores the value of NDPC’s first responder training programs.

As has been reported in the media, a T-shirt vendor in Times Square noticed smoke coming from a vehicle and alerted a mounted police officer. Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer smelled gunpowder and called for assistance. Within minutes, the area was flooded with police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and bomb squads. The coordinated actions of all these first responders—from a variety of responder disciplines—helped contain the area, preserve evidence and safely evacuate hundreds of people.

The pool of responders to the incident reflects a significant requirement of first responder training—training must accommodate the range of response disciplines and different job functions within the first responder community. That is, training must address the needs of different responder fields expected at an incident. In addition, training must also address the needs of the entry level responder as well as the seasoned, top level manager. The Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center at New Mexico Tech (EMRTC/NMT) provides specialized training that focuses on explosives including VBIEDs, like the one found in time square. Training includes controlled detonations of a variety of improvised explosives providing responders with first-hand understanding of and experience with a range of IEDs, including letter bombs, briefcase bombs, VBIEDs and person borne IEDs. continued on page 3

vol. 5. issue 1, Summer 2010

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New Mexico Tech Offers Vehicle-Borne Explosive Device Training

Course participants assembled this VBIED.

The NDPC News • Volume 5, Issue 1, Spring 2010

T he WMD threat facing today’s emergency responders is frighteningly real. Recent reports

show that a terrorist attack using such weapons is likely by the end of 2013. In addition to manmade events, the potential for accidental chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) hazards also exists.

Whether criminal or accidental, these incidents will require a law enforcement response. The Law Enforcement Protective Measures (LEPM) and Law Enforcement Response Actions (LERA) courses, offered by the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), provide instruction regarding WMD-related topics that include terrorist tactics and targeting, as well as hands-on training designed to show CBRNE-specific response skills. “You never know what you’re going to walk into,” said Deputy Raan Lindsay, from the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department. “It may be a methamphetamine lab or WMD event. This training keeps us alive by not making us victims.” “The training equips the responder with a hands-on approach to seeing what is discussed in lectures, as well as actually entering a toxic agent environment,” noted

Don Futrell, course manager and WMD instructor. “Law enforcement officers who complete these courses are prepared to provide immediate protective actions and to safely and appropriately respond to a CBRNE incident.” The LEPM and LERA courses are two days combined, but most include a third day at the CDP’s toxic agent facility for the WMD Hands-On Training (HOT) course. The Chemical,

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NCBRT Instructor Wins 2010 National Notable Achievement AwardNCBRT instructor Tom

Bergman recently received the 2010 National Notable

Achievement Award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “This award focuses on the incredible work being conducted in the regions and states that affects our communities where the environmental risk and impact is the greatest,” says Dana Tulis, Acting Director, EPA Office of Emergency Management.

Bergman was recognized for his efforts to help communities be better prepared and to respond more efficiently by using Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO). He is only one of a select group chosen from outsdie of the EPA who receive this award.“I cannot think of anyone in the country who would deserve this more,” says Monty Elder, State Emergency Response Chairperson for Oklahoma.

Protective Measures, Response Actions Prepare Law Enforcement for WMD Threats

Ordnance, Biological and Radiological (COBRA) Training Facility is America’s only training center that affords civilian responders the opportunity to train in a nerve agent environment. The experience enables graduates to effectively prevent, respond to and recover from incidents involving chemical weapons and other hazardous materials.

The CDP provides emergency responders with necessary skills to respond to and manage incidents. This training provides the tools needed to protect America’s responders from contaminated crime scenes or accidents, and effectively save lives.

“Many police officers focus on the typical reoccurring problems like burglaries and drugs,” added Rick Searcy, CDP WMD instructor. “Those same officers may one day respond to a traffic accident involving dangerous chemicals, or find themselves serving an arrest warrant at a residence and find a lab for manufacturing explosives, radiological dispersal devices, dangerous drugs, chemical weapons or biological weapons. The training here provides protective actions the officers must take once a threat has been identified or perceived—whether intentional or accidental.”

A student demonstrates a positive result for nerve agent during training.

NCBRT instructor Tom Bergman.

continued from page 1Two courses that deal specifically with VBIEDs and PBIEDs are Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings and Prevention of and Response to Suicide Bombing Incidents.

These courses are designed to integrate the different job functions of the first responder community. Awareness level courses develop the skills necessary to recognize and report or investigate an

event involving explosives. Performance level courses identify and develop the tasks needed during the initial response. Management and Planning level courses are designed for managers who build plans and coordinate responses.

In addition, these courses are intended to address the needs of the other disciplines that may unknowingly respond to an incident involving explosives. For

example, an emergency medical technician sees an injury that indicates it is the result of bomb-making activities or observes materials used to create an IED. Or a firefighter, while extinguishing a fire, must be observant and understand the critical tasks involved in evidence preservation.

Since 2001, New Mexico Tech has trained over 300,000 first responders in explosives incident response.

The NDPC News • Volume 5, Issue 1, Spring 2010

For questions or comments contact the editor at: Phone: 225-578-8187 or Email: ndpcnews@ncbrt.lsu.edu

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Biom

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National Center

Est. 1998

With the rising threat of cyber attacks, security breaches and cyber espionage, the need for

cyber-security training in the public and private sector has never been greater. The recent “hack attack” against Google and Adobe was called “highly sophisticated,” and reports indicate the attacks targeted at least 34 companies in the technology, financial and defense sectors.

The Adaptive Cyber-Security Training Online (ACT-Online) courses, now available on the Texas Engineering Extension Service’s (TEEX) Domestic Preparedness Campus (http://teexwmdcampus.com), are a vital step toward countering today’s cyber threats. Furthermore, “Safeguarding and Securing Cyberspace” is one of the five Department of Homeland Security (DHS) missions identified in the February 2010 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) Report to Congress.

The 10 new online courses are available in three discipline-specific tracks and target everyone from the non-technical computer user to technical IT professionals and business managers.

The DHS/FEMA-certified cyber-security training is designed to ensure that the privacy, reliability, and integrity of the information systems that power the country’s global economy remain intact

and secure. The courses were developed by the University of Memphis and Vanderbilt University over the last three years, and draw from the most current information and knowledge from top researchers and experts in the field.

The online training is offered at no cost to U.S. citizens, who can earn a DHS/FEMA certificate of completion along with Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

“These classes are available at the right time to meet the serious threats facing our

computer networks,” said Rebecca Tate of TEEX and the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC). “They are timely and relevant to anyone interested in security information and protecting personal or business data.”

“The courses are well-designed and highly interactive,” she added. “They use smart technology and a pre-exam to customize the training to your level of knowledge. This training is a must for everyone who uses computers.”

Online Cyber-Security Courses Vital in Countering Threats to Computers and Networks

Adaptive Cyber-Security Training Online CoursesGeneral/Non-TechnicalAWR-175-W Information Security for EveryoneAWR-174-W Cyber EthicsAWR-168-W Cyber Law and White Collar CrimeTechnical/IT ProfessionalAWR-173-W Information Security BasicsAWR-178-W Secure SoftwareAWR-138-W Network AssuranceAWR-139-W Digital Forensics BasicsManagers and Business ProfessionalsAWR-176-W Business Information ContinuityAWR-177-W Information Risk ManagementAWR-169-W Cyber Incident Analysis and Report

The NDPC News • Volume 5, Issue 1, Spring 2010The NDPC NewsLouisiana State University3170 Pleasant HallBaton Rouge, LA, 70803

The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC) is a partnership of public and private organizations committed

to serving emergency responders by providing quality, cost-effective counter-terrorism training. The NDPC is sponsored through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Preparedness Directorate. It is the principal vehicle through which DHS develops and delivers training to state and local emergency responders. The consortium is comprised of several preparedness training centers: the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, the National Center for Biomedical Research

and all-hazards catastrophic events. Since its establishment in 1998, the NDPC’s impact on national preparedness has been substantial. The NDPC has conducted training in all 50 states and each U.S. territory. This training has benefited more than a million people since 1998. Today, the consortium’s various programs meet the training and education needs of more than 60,000 emergency responders each year. The consortium combines the missions of all its members with a commitment to provide a focused, threat-responsive, long-term national capability and capacity to execute and sustain comprehensive education, training, testing and exercise programs.

and Training at Louisiana State University, the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center of Texas A&M University System’s Texas Engineering Extension Service,the National Exercise, Test, and Training Center at the Nevada Test Site, the Center for Domestic Preparedness, the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. in Colorado and the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center at the University of Hawaii. Each of these organizations has distinguished themselves nationally as experts across the gamut of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear explosive agents, as well as in all four homeland security mission areas of prevention, protection, response and recovery. The NDPC provides advanced-level training to those involved in WMD

Featured in this issue

1 • Letter from the Chairman

• New Mexico Tech Offers Vehicle-Borne Explosive Device Training

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4 • About the NDPC

About the NDPC

• Protective Measures, Response Actions Prepare Law Enforcement for WMD Threats

• NCBRT Instructor Wins 2010 National Notable Achievement Award

• New Mexico Tech Offers Vehicle-Borne Explosive Device Training (continued)

• Online Cyber-Security Courses Vital in Countering Threats to Computers and Networks

• Contact Information