Is anyone home

[Hammerhead338]

Terrorism is happening all over the world, but this site is very unused. Is there any dept out there doing terrorism training, and if so what are you doing.

Would you believe, that this is my first topic that I have posted. Have a good day and be safe.

Joe
Local 3905

[fireemt03]

hey it just so happens that I am working on something right now i teach at the rolla votech look me up.

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Corey J. Molinelli NREMT
Asst. Fire Chief

[Boothby]

We have been doing awarness level training for about two years now. The city also recieved money from the FEDs to set up a Metropolitan Medical Responce Team (MMRT). This is a group of Paramedics, Hazmat techs, law enforcement personel, and MD's who will respond to a terrorist attack with weapons of mass distruction. The funding also covers the perchase of equiptment and medications to be used by the team. All of the Firefighter/Paramedics have had about 8 hrs of training, and preliminary protocals have been developed. The city just completed a Drill simulating the use of Sarin gas at a local sports arena. They had 300+ victims to deal with during the drill. I was out of town at the time and don't know how it went. The MMRT did not respond for this drill since it is the early stages of formation.

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Larry Boothby
Firefighter/Paramedic
Truck 3 A-shift
Local 1784
Memphis.

[Hammerhead338]

Hey Larry, sounds like your dept and city are trying to be prepared for a emergency. I have one question who is in charge of your MMRT team. Do they only work on the people who were affected by the attack, and if so who is then in charge of taking care of the product that started it all. Take care and be safe.

Joe Decker
Local 3905

[Boothby]

Well from what I understand the firedepartment is doing most of the admin side, but it is run out of the office of emergency management. As far as dealing with the hazard it will be MMRT and firedepartment hazmat. The team itself is made up of medics, hazmat techs, and law enforcement so alot of the bases are covered. To be honest I'm not sure how it all will really work because we are so early in the program. I have only had the initial medic training and the who team hasn't gotten together yet.

[dc45b]

You can a book from the Department of Justice or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Go to their web sites and have them send you this book. Emergency Response to Terrorism. They will send the book to you. Read it and do the test in the back and return the test to them for a certificate. Or they will send a instructor manual for you to teach others. In our county the fire department is the bomb squad. We have talks with them on a regular bases. With living so close to Washington, DC we are especially aware of any potential problems. Just be safe about it. Mike

[hazmatchick]

I have been involved in hazmat for ten years now and it still hasn't been recognized that terrorism and hazmat have to be done together. I probably am the only member of our team that has taken any initiative to get any training in WMD. We have training available to us through our state fire office but so far no one in our county has requested any for any of the local departments or teams. It is sad but true. My FD is small and our commissioners are not that young. So an terrorist incident probably won't happen here. Know what I mean
Bonnie Belfance, Schenectady Co.Hazmat Team

[pompanofd]

hey bud< my city is only 10 miles from the largest port in florida that handles massive amounts of oil & gasoline. we have not had any training. i hear all the big cities are getting it? miami ,new york , LA ...
i don't think 3/4's of the departments are prepared for any type of terrorism......

[Hammerhead338]

Thanks for all of the posts. pompanofd I hear you my town is with in 20 miles of one of the largest army post's in the country, Fort Leonard Wood, ( or as some call it fort lost in the wood) With all the stuff there and with what we have in our town we should have something but we dont and probley wont anytime soon. The big citys are getting there act to gether but what if it does happen and it is a major attack, and the local personal cant handel the problem or they are affected by the attack and are taken out of action, who is going to move up and help out. I know that it will take some time to train everyone on how to handle a terrorism attack but we are moving to slow.

What about all of the talk about the plans to attack the new years eve partys, where there could be thousands of people, are we ready. The word is that they are planing to attack all over the world, are they ready to deal with it.

Have a good day and be safe.

Joe
Local 3905

[medic17]

Y2K's just around the corner, and I'm kind of leery of what's going to happen on the 31st, especially after what's been in the news the past few days... I'm on for a 24 for New Year's eve. I took the basic concepts class a year ago, but nothing else has been offered around here beyond that. I guess if you ignore a problem it'll just go away. Right?

[Steamer]

I had an old Bat Chief warn me once that if you stick your head in the sand, you've got the other end in a perfect position to get it kicked. It has proven to be pretty sage advice.

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Steve Gallagher
Chillicothe (Ohio) Fire Department


[This message has been edited by Steamer (edited December 23, 1999).]

[Hammerhead338]

medic17,steamer. You are right, everyone thinks that if we dont talk about it, it wont happen. They said that there will be 2 million people in time's square, how will they do there job if something does happen. My problem is how can we as a country keep people from getting into the country, there are places up north that have no guards only have a sign saying that you have entered the US. For me I will stay at home and hope that everyone is using there heads and they are nice.

Have a good day and be safe.

Joe
Local 3905

[Rick Bond]

Guy's you have struck a nerve. I live in a beach front community on the gulf with the Naval Diver Training/SEAL Training/ EOD Training School on one side and the Air Force Weapons Systems School on the other. The county as well as the cities in this area are so far behind in basic fire fighting they can't even spell terrorism. Like many other areas, if we don't speak about it maybe it won't happen to us.

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THESE THING WE DO SO OTHERS MAY LIVE!

[Hammerhead338]

Hey Rick, That is what I was trying to do. Get people thinking about the problem, and the lack of education and training on the subject.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

Have a good day and be safe.

Joe
Local 3905

[OSFM 1213]

We provide training to fire and rescue personnel in our state. What topics would you want to see in a workshop, including hands on training, for terrorism. Give me some ideals for our next terrorism conference. Thanks!

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OSFM 1213

[Hammerhead338]

OSFM 1213. I have a couple of ideas.

It will depend on what kind of attack is used. If it is a gas attack like what was used in Japan, how do you tell what kind of gas is used. Who has the machine that will tell you what it is and how long will it take to get it to the scene. What do you do with the people untill you know what you are dealing with. How about a gas that takes some time to affect the person, is there such a gas and how meny are there and what kind of time are we talking about. If there is,can it be spread to other people, and how can it be stoped.

If its a bomb,we should know how to treat the most hurt people first, and make the scene safe for the emergency workers.

I think the thing that will hurt us the most is a chemical or bio attack. It would affect more people and it could take some time to find out what it is and how to fix the problem.

Have a good day and be safe.

Joe
Local 3905

[Steamer]

Explosives are probably our greatest risk, statistically speaking. So should there be an explosion, remember there may be another device located to take out the safety forces...@#&%, THAT'S US! I hesitated to bring up the secondary device issue, but I figured it's a pretty well known tractic by now. They have done this at a couple of abortion clinic bombings anyway. I think there was one in Alabama, and one in Georgia.
I'm one of the instructors for the NFA Terrorism course through the Ohio Fire Academy, and my guys thought the whole terrorism thing was laughable until I held the course at my FD. Hmmm...not so funny when you see just how at risk we all are, and not from some radical Iraqi death squad either. We have enough of our home grown variety nuts to keep us busy.
The bottom line is we have to take the time to look around, and think in terms of survival. Early recognition of potential points of cover could save your life. Look the scene over on explosion incidents. Don't park your vehicles or setup your command posts next to dumpsters or strange packages. Also, the explosion may have not been intended to cause property damage, but to disperse any of several types of agents...anything from etiologicals to radiologicals, and everything in between. All things to think about when you get there.
The Terrorist Courses through the NFA are really pretty good. All of the things I mentioned, and more are discussed in the course. Check with your State training facilities for local availability. It could be well worth your time.

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Steve Gallagher
Chillicothe (Ohio) Fire Department

[Hammerhead338]

Well said Steamer. You are right we have to be very carefull about the second device, what kind of a world we live in where the people who come to help are the ones being targeted.

Have a good day and be safe.

Joe
Local 3905

[fireemt03]

also remember that we in this area have another resourse the RAID team the national gaurd WMD team that is on ft wood ( one of 10 in the country).
they have all kinds of monitoring equipment.I am sure that they would be willing to do somekind of training with your dept. they gave a class at the Spec. Ops. Symposium this year. also have you done any of the classes the university puts on? very good. also most of the Ha-mat classes now days are putting in something to do with terrorism ( like hazmat chick said it WILL be a haz-mat problem also)
as far as initil monitoring there are some referance books out that will "HELP" in determining what agent was used alot will fall on the medical folks also.

stay safe.


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Corey J. Molinelli NREMT
Asst. Fire Chief

[dousaems]

Well, we all got through the New Year without a major terrorist incident. I think many people were relieved, but as has been posted here, most departments outside of major metropolitan areas are not prepared. Sure, the big cities are good international targets, but who would have guessed the OK City incident? So with that in mind, here's some food for thought.
You will be IT. Should this happen in your area, do not count on state or federal help for at least 4 hours, including RAID teams. This is a Haz-mat disaster. If such an incident is included in your planning, practice it. At your yearly MCI exercises, throw in some terrorist stuff, or a "chemical weapon" scenario. Makes life fun.
There IS training out there that is available outside the 120 cities. I happen to work for a company that does this kind of training all over the nation. There may also be some training on the web soon. Keep your eyes peeled for that. If anyone is really interested, e-mail me, and I can at least give some ideas on the training.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and stayed safe.


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Todd Dousa
NREMT-P, CCEMT-P

[Ronald Kay]

Terrorism....yet another thing thrown at the fire service. Here in Toledo, Ohio we are training all Haz-Mat team members in terrorism response. Our county just recieved a grant from the Federal Gov't for terrorism response. In our county meeting it was agreed that communications by all county FD's was a problem, so with the grant money they bought all 26 FD's in our county 800 mhz. portable radio's. The Toledo FD Haz-Mat Unit will be the county Terrorism response unit. Through the grant money alot of equipment (metering devices, Decon Tents and other equip.) was purchased as well as money for training. We are in the process of training all members on the equipment and Terrorism awarness training. Just the other day we had an Anthrax scare at an abortion clinic, this was the second one this year. So yes Terrorism is real here in the U.S, and were trying to be prepared.

Ronald Kay
Safety Officer
Toledo,Ohio Fire/Rescue Dept.

[This message has been edited by Ronald Kay (edited January 10, 2000).]

[FM-84]

The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office sends all Bomb Technicians to WMD training. WMD training is now required by the Hazardous Devices School.

[FireThumper55]

I don't have a whole lot to offer on this matter, however, almost everyone on our department has been in the military, including myself, and we ( those of us that were in the military) have all done our basic NBC attack training and preparedness in bootcamp, and most of us still remember it, one of the things our department has been doing to keep up is purchasing items from the Army, some of the items we have been purchasing alot of are packets of M8 and M9 Detector paper to identify chemical hazards, IE gasses, liquids, and the such, also, our department has invested in purchasing from the Army, a set of current issue MOPP ( Mission Oriented Poisonus Protection) suits for each fire fighter, and the current issue M17 NBC gas masks, also, we have in our terrorism supply closet, one Kevlar® bullet proof / fragmentation vest for every firefighter

thumper
1008

[dousaems]

Interesting aspect of dealing with the threat. Military training is what most of the national programs are based on anyway. And since we really shouldn't be in the HOT zone for any length of time, MOPP is a pretty good option. But OSHA would go nuts since it is not fully encapsulated. We in the field have learned to do what we have to though.
M8 and M9 are only good for liquids I thought. I will assume that you have a few Haz-mat "techs" in your department; are they the ones who will go in? And what is your plan for decon? Obviously, that is required if we plan on going in.
I have heard of some departments utilizing Army surplus TAP level gear, which are pretty good too. The military is an excellent asset to tap for gear regarding this issue. We should really use it more.

"It is better to ask forgiveness than permission"


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Todd Dousa
NREMT-P, CCEMT-P

[Polarbear]

Abouty 2 years ago I took a Terrorism Awareness course given by the county through the state outreach program. At this time, our county HazMat team (in which I am a prt of) is currently undergoing training in Terrorism. We are currently being schooled in a FEMA course on Terrorism Concepts. Word is we will be undergoing a technician level school in the months to come.

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Robert T. Schorr FF/EMT/HMT
Northpole Fire Co (Watertown,Jefferson Co, NY)

[LUECKE]

For those going to the Oklahoma City National Memorial services in April, here is some additional information about a terrorism conference to be held there April 17-19:

The causes and effects of terrorism will be the first international conference of its kind in the new millennium sponsored by the Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism and the Rand Corporation.

Representatives from the academic community, the FBI and Scotland Yard will gather in Oklahoma City April 17-19. The symposium begins a week long of Dedication activities for the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

The goal of the three-day conference will assess developments in terrorism over the past two decades, map future directions and make policy recommendations for prevention and consequence management.

“Twenty years ago, the Rand Corporation took the lead in studying terrorism with their sponsorship of an international conference in 1980,” said Don Ferrell, who serves as the Chairman of the Institute. “We hope to attract many of the representatives who participated in Rand’s first effort, twenty years ago. We ask them to join us as we reflect on past experiences and expand our study. Through this effort, we hope to help those who teach about the political and social ramifications of terrorist acts, as well as those in government and the private sector who must deal with security issues and consequence management on a day to day basis.”

Ambassador Prudence Bushnell of Guatemala will be the keynote speaker for the closing luncheon on April 19. Bushnell was the Ambassador to Kenya at the time of the bombing of its Nairobi, Kenya Embassy.

Seating is limited and advance reservations are recommended. The symposium will be held in the Myriad Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City, just a few blocks from the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Registration information is available from the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism by calling (405) 232-5121 or register on line at [urlhttp://www.okcterrorisminstitute.com[/url]

The Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism is the third component of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The symbolic Memorial will be dedicated on April 19, 2000 and the Memorial Center museum will open in November later this year.



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Lt. Craig Luecke
Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue
Webmaster / Technical Information
WEB : http://www.vatf1.org
MAIL : craig@vatf1.org

[Neen5029]

I have to agree that the need for WMD training is there... I was lucky enough to participate with my HazMat team at an exercise this past September that involved everyone from our local authorities, right on up to the federal guys. It was definately a unique experience and it helped us to understand how things work as they progress through the chain from local to state and so on... if anyone knows of any good trainings coming up PLEASE let me know!!

Thanks http://www.firehouse.com/interactive/boards/smile.gif

Dawn Redensky
FF/EMT/Rad Specialist
Lebanon County PA HazMat Team

[dmedic]

I don't know what's available in your area, but several DMAT teams around the country also have a branch called NMRT-WMD. They are set for mass-decon and treatment of NBC terrorist acts. As someone said earlier, they have about a four hour deployment time.I can give you Colorado's NMRT web site. It has some good links you might be able to use. http://home.rmi.net/~javaman/index.htm I know that's a long web address, but it might be worth the typing for you if you can get any useful info.