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3-day planning program instructed by the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center and funded by the US Department of Homeland Security

National College’s Roanoke Valley Campus was the site for a 3-day training seminar conducted by the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center from Tuesday, July 8 through Thursday, July 10, 2008.  Entitled Emergency Medical Service Operations and Planning for Weapons of Mass Destruction, the course was organized by the Near Southwest Preparedness Alliance (NSPA) and funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Dr. Karen Alldredge (leaning) is pictured above as she simulates intubating a patient who has suffered burns to his face and chest in an explosion.  Karen is the Director of the EMT/Paramedic program.

The course was planned in order to equip area emergency medical responders with the skills needed to ensure proper patient triage, treatment, and transportation in the event  of exposure to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) weapons.  Approximately 25 individuals from throughout the region attended the class.  Organizations represented included Catawba Hospital, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Medical Center, Lewis Gale Medical Center, Roanoke County Fire & Rescue, Roanoke City Fire-EMS, Virginia Department of Health, Carilion Clinic Patient Transport, Henry County Public Safety, Virginia Defense Force, as well as National College’s EMT/Paramedic Program.

Course participants are pictured on the right as they simulate chemical decontamination.

The NERRTC (http://www.teex.com/ NERRTC/) has developed courses as part of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium’s curricula to improve the abilities of jurisdictions to combat domestic terrorism. The courses provide training to first responders at the awareness, operations, technician, or incident command levels.

Emergency Medical Service Operations and Planning for Weapons of Mass Destruction is an operations or technician-level course and is one of several taught by the NERRTC and funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

NSPA is a collaborative, cooperative venture to facilitate the development of a regional healthcare emergency response system. It covers an 8,000 square mile area including 16 counties, 17 cities and towns, and a population of nearly 1 million.

Participants are pictured as they deploy the decontamination tent.