CT-Training for EMS/Fire Personnel

[Sandles2Sidearm]

A large protion of the Homeland Security Bill includes a higher level of preparedness for first responders.

Has anyone gone through any Disaster or Haz-Mat training recently addressing this?

[JimSpoor]

From what I can gather most of the training is still in the formative stages. Meaning lesson plans are still being drawn up, grant proposals are still being written, and a lot of organizations are waiting for $$$ from Uncle Sugar.

That being said, many states and localities have either increased the pace, size or frequency of the training guidelines they already possess. Mass Casaulty Incident, Haz-Mat, etc. The recent MCI drill at Logan Airport is a good example.

Also remember, based on lessons learned on 9-11-01 and in places like Israel a lot of the paradigms involving level of response, staging areas, Incident Command, etc. are being rethought and rewritten. I think you can look at this as a work in progress. In many locales it is still difficult to train responders that they are not invincible, wait for LE.

SCENE SAFETY - Yourself, your partners, THEN your patient, fire, incident, whatever!

[nyfo]

Look into a class called Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). It will provide some great insite as to what your looking for.

[MrJim911]

A large drill took place today in one of the towns I dispatch for. I heard there were over 100 FBI agents along with local PD, FD, Hazmat, etc... I left before it started though... :(