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Operations Report for the National Terrorism Preparedness Institute

1 June - 30 September 1998 FY981 October - 30 September 1999 FY99

National Terrorism Preparedness InstituteSt. Petersburg Junior College

Table of Contents

FY 98 Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Section I Current Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Course Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Course Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Live Broadcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7NTPI Distance Learning Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

On Location Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Follow-on Training Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Adobe’s Acrobat and Real Network’s Real Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Section II The VISION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13FY99 Course Projection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Weapons of Mass Destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

FY ’99 Consequence Management Productions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14BROADCAST #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15BROADCAST #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15BROADCAST #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15BROADCAST #4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15DOCUMENTARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Mobile Emergency Operations Center (MEOC) Trainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Phase One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Phase Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Phase Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Courses Associated with the MEOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17MEOC Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

New Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Organizational Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

NTPI Incident After-Action Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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FY 98 Executive Summary

Overview

During the National Terrorism Preparedness Institute’s (NTPI) first four months of operation, it trainedfirst responders nationally by developing two courses, establishing a web presence, conducting a tele-course in conjunction with the International Association of Fire Chiefs, contracting to develop 14 courses,and conducting conventional instruction at three locations.

NTPI currently has 12 employees on staff and expects to add additional support staff as fundingbecomes available.

Conventional Training

NTPI courses are seminar based and include team problem solving modules to foster interaction. Todate, federal, state and local emergency response agencies have received instruction from NTPI.

Currently, NTPI offers two courses which have been developed, tested and validated. These include“Decontamination for Weapons of Mass Destruction, a Manager’s Overview” which was developed bythe NTPI staff, and “Emergency Response to Terrorism: Basic Concepts” which was developed by theNational Fire Academy to teach WMD awareness. A total of 138 students received instruction during FY98 in St. Petersburg, Florida and Seattle, Washington.

Courses under development include: Health Care Facility Decontamination Operations, Pre-CriticalIncident Stress Debriefing (CISD) for WMD Incidents, Medical Operations for WMD Terrorism, WMDIncident Safety Officer, Decontamination for WMD, Operational Response, Operations Planning,Damage Assessment, Public Education for WMD, Evidence Detection and Sustained Operations forWMD Incidents.

On special request, Dr. George Buck and Dr. Matthew Blais delivered an eight-hour block of instructionat Arkansas Technical University in Russellville, Arkansas.

Distance Learning

NTPI hosted a live broadcast titled “Terrorism in America’s Cities” at the International Association of FireChief’s conference held in Louisville, KY on September 15, 1998. A live audience of 1,300 fire chiefsfrom around the world along with 8,688 viewers from across 47 states and the District of Columbiaparticipated in this broadcast. Law Enforcement Education Television Network (LETN) and FireEducation Television Network (FETN) simulcast NTPI’s broadcast live and have rebroadcast rights. Thebroadcast was also transmitted by streaming video over the Internet.

Panelists included: Garry Briese (Executive Director, IAFC); Ellis Stanley (City of Los AngelesEmergency Management); Mario Trevino (Chief, Las Vegas Fire Department); John Eversol (Chief,Hazardous Materials, Chicago Fire Department). James Lee Witt (Director, Federal EmergencyManagement Agency) wrapped up the broadcast with a 15 minute presentation.

NTPI is attempting to keep costs down by making instructional materials available via the Internet.Standardized, easily accessible software applications make these materials available to any jurisdictionwith Internet access. Materials placed in the public domain are carefully screened to avoid providingsensitive information to unauthorized people or groups.

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FY 99 Forecast

Overview

NTPI is conducting training at the University of Massachusetts, the Connecticut Fire Academy, and theOrange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando, Florida in the first quarter of FY99.

The eleven new courses initiated under last year’s budget will continue development and be scheduledas they are completed. The course validation process allows NTPI to screen the curriculum and developa pool of potential adjunct instructors.

NTPI will continue to develop and explore alternative methods to distribute training. These include butare not limited to CD-ROMs, Internet training, and distance learning broadcasts.

Conventional Training

The current projection for the first quarter of FY99 is 34 courses reaching 1,700 students. Our goal is toconduct 384 classes in the remaining three-quarters of FY99 reaching 11,520 students. NTPI must continuously update its course materials to the meet new challenges. Two topics alreadyidentified for future course development are “HAZMAT-EOD Crossover for WMD Terrorism” and “TheRole of the Public Information Officer in WMD Incidents”.

NTPI plans to hire two additional coordinators and a curriculum design specialist. The goal is to developregional pools of adjunct instructors to quickly and effectively meet the needs of our customers andminimize cost. Distance Learning

NTPI is scheduled to conduct four satellite broadcasts and develop one instructional video for FirstResponders during FY ’99.

The National Guard is currently fielding a teleconferencing system in armories across the United States. NTPI plans to explore this technology as a means of delivering quality training to first responders in theirown communities.

NTPI plans to develop Internet training extension materials for all of our courses on a limited accessbasis. Participants will be required to register on line to verify need to know, obtain a password andcomplete course activities prior to obtaining a certificate of completion for each course.

Mobile Emergency Operations Center (MEOC) Trainer

The MEOC trainer is an air-transportable, fully functional emergency operations center. It has commandand control capabilities that integrate information systems and telecommunications based on the IncidentCommand System. Initial training on the MEOC consists of building a cadre of highly qualified firstresponders to develop and test its capabilities. This testing will consist of deploying the MEOC to fieldlocations and conducting mock disaster simulations. Full operational capability is projected for FY00.

National Terrorism Preparedness Institute October 5, 1998

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Operations Report forNational Terrorism

Preparedness Institute

1 June - 30 September 1998

Section I Current Operations

NTPI’s first four months of operations haveexceeded the milestones set. Aframework of expansion has been laid toassimilate new staff members, adjunctinstructors and market the program. NTPIhas established a web presence,conducted a tele-course in conjunctionwith the International Association of FireChief’s conference, contracted to develop14 courses, and conducted on-sitecourses in three locations.

NTPI has organized and setup thenecessary framework to administer anddevelop courses. This includes organizingoffice space, requisitioning equipment andsoftware to support these activities.Staffing for NTPI has risen from three inMay to 12.

To ensure that course content is relevantto the needs of the first responder, wehave drawn our course developers andinstructors from the emergency responsecommunity itself. NTPI currently offers twocourses to federal, state and local

emergency response agencies. Coursesare offered to an audience of at least 30students, NTPI provides a qualifiedinstructor and all training materials at nocharge.

All NTPI courses begin with aseminar-based training phase thatmaximizes information transfer. The nextphase relies on Internet extensiontraining to convey general knowledge onthe various topics and sustainment ofcritical skills. The final phase uses ahands-on approach to reinforce the skillslearned in the previous two phases. Allcourses are designed to be presented atthe location of the students and duringduty hours to reduce the need forovertime and travel. The objective is toprovide highly effective training to asmany first responders as possible at thelowest cost.

An NTPI website has been established.This contains pertinent organizationaland course offering information. As this


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site grows actual online supplementalcourses will be added linked to the on-sitecourses. This website is a majormarketing tool for the Institute.

Course Development

To date, NTPI developed, presented andvalidated the Decontamination forWeapons of Mass Destruction, AManager’s Overview course in St.Petersburg. The Course was first offeredon the 20 August. The validation processresulted in minor revision of the courseand was followed by two deliveries inSeattle, Washington on the 24 and 25September. The class was very wellreceived during all three presentations.The primary concern of the attendees wasthat enough information was imparted tocover two days. As all the students alsovoiced the opinion that they could not gettwo days to attend the course, we havetransferred some of the information to theInternet for extension training. A total of95 personnel have been trained on thisprogram from a variety agencies includingpolice, fire, EMS, hospital administration,EPA and the medical examiners office. NTPI adopted the National Fire Academy’sawareness level training course,Emergency Response to Terrorism: BasicConcepts as the other course offering forFY98. The course was offered at SaintPetersburg Junior College on 18 Augustand was attended by 43 personnelr e p r e s e n t i n g f i r e , e m e r g e n c ymanagement, EMS, search and rescue,and law enforcement. The course wasvery well received and we are planning tooffer the course around the nation.

NTPI is also preparing 12 additionalcourses for delivery in the first quarter ofFY99. Many of these drafts have arrivedat NTPI for evaluation. The initialofferings will be evaluated by qualifiedexperts from across the country. Thetopics include: Health Care FacilityDecontamination Operations, Pre-CISDfor WMD Incidents, Medical Operationsfor WMD Terrorism, WMD Incident SafetyOfficer, Decontamination for WMD,Operational Response, OperationsPlanning, Damage Assessment, PublicEducation for WMD, Evidence Detectionand Sustained Operations for WMDIncidents.

Course Delivery

Dr George Buck and Dr. Matthew Blaisdelivered an eight-hour block ofinstruction at Arkansas TechnicalUniversity in Russellville, Arkansas onMonday, 29 June 1998, during theEmergency Administrat ion andManagement Symposium “Principle andPractices of Disaster Relief andRecovery”. The block of instructioncovered terrorism and safe emergencyresponse to the consequences use ofweapons of mass destruction.Approximately 60 persons participated aspart of the live audience. In addition, theseminar was broadcast via satellite byArkansas Educational Television Networkand the downlinks reached a couple ofthousand additional students. Viewerswere able to call in toll-free and askquestions. The instruction was wellreceived by the audience who askedseveral highly pertinent and penetrating


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James Lee Witt, Director FEMA with Dr.George Buck

questions. A local newspaper covered theevent and the article printed on thisportion of the conference was highlycomplimentary to both speakers.

Live Broadcast

The National Terrorism PreparednessInstitute (NTPI) hosted a live broadcast atthe International Association of FireChief’’s conference held in Louisville, Kyon September 15, 1998. The broadcastwas titled ““Terrorism in American Cities.””The audience at the tele-conference in Ky.consisted of 1300 fire chiefs from aroundthe nation and the world. This free twohour program was broadcast nationwide topublic safety agencies and National Guardarmories via satellite and the Internet. Thesignal was transmitted to NTPI, encodedand “streamed” live to the Internet viaNTPI’s website.

The first hour of the broadcast consistedof panelists’’ remarks, focusing on threemajor topical areas: (1) Identifying trainingand response assets available to firstresponders; (2) Identifying the time line forconsequence management resources; and(3) Preparing for special and high profileevents. The second hour is reserved for aquestion and answer session during whichquestions may be submitted by theviewing audience via fax and Email.Invited panelists and their perspectivesare:

James Lee Witt, Director FederalEmergency Management Agency;

David Lesak, moderator (national

perspective and hazardousmaterials’’ assessment);

Garry Briese (Executive Director,IAFC; fire service resources,capabilities and availability);

Ellis Stanley (City of Los AngelesEmergency Managemen t ;consequence managementissues);

Mario Trevino (Chief, Las VegasFire Department; multi-agencyresponse to terrorist threats);

John Eversol (Chief, Chicago FireDepartment; large city response issues).

Data on downlink sites:

251 Sites across 47 states (WashingtonDC =1; Canada =1). The estimated total live and videotape


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Speakers at the International Association of Fire Chief’s Conference

audience is: 8688

91 Fire/EMS sites are participating with anaudience estimated at: 4670 (54%)

28 Police Depts are participating with anaudience estimated at: 1833 (21%)

84 MIL/FED sites are participating with anaudience estimated at: 1735 (20%)

The actual site count is probably muchhigher as the program will be shown in atall 200+ Air Warrior sites, but not all of

them registered with us.

The residual videotape effect will also bemuch larger than the total reflects asmany FD/PDs have indicated that theywill use the tape in training classes. Also,the Law Enforcement EducationTelevision Network (LETN) and FireEducation Television Network (FETN)(participating with us for the first time)aired the programs live but will alsorebroadcast it a number of times in themonths ahead ...imagine what the totalsmight have been with proper time to


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market this program and a choice of abetter time of day to broadcast it. Thebroadcast was re-broadcasted via satelliteand the Internet at 11:00 am west coasttime. This session has been archived onour website for future view by firstresponders around the nation.

NTPI Distance Learning Program

Over the past six months, NTPI hasassembled the necessary means toadminister distance learning courses tothe nations first responders. This shortchapter outlines the concepts, and themethods used to get NTPI ready for itstask of training first responders on locationas well as through teleconferencing, andthe Internet.

On Location Training

NTPI’s current development of fourteencourses will range in length from 1-3 days.Many first responders schedules do notallow them to attend a course any longerthan this without disrupting theirdepartments work schedules. Currently120 high threat locationsare identified where at e r r o r i s m i n c i d e n tinvolving a WMD islikely. Since mutual aidto first responders inthese high threat areas islikely, NTPI’s is focused though not limitedon training the peripheral jurisdictionswhich may augment or supplant theaffected jurisdictions resources. Themarket for NTPI is the full-time andvolunteer first responder whose training is

accomplished on their day off, Saturdaymorning or evenings. These courses aredesigned to introduce the concepts of thesubject matter and provide new and alsoreinforce current training they may have.

NTPI contacts or is contacted by aninterested jurisdiction to offer courses.The course(s) are scheduled and thejurisdiction becomes the host. NTPIsends a Course Coordinator andInstructor from its staff to teach thecourse. Course materials are sent inelectronic version or a master printedcopy for the jurisdiction. The host isresponsible only for printing adequatecourse materials for students. Thestudents that attend the course areentered into NTPI’s data base for follow-on training using either teleconferencingor via the Internet. A certificate is issuedafter course completion.

Follow-on Training Methods

NTPI is committed to delivering coursematerials via the Internet and instructionto the first responder where he/she is a

fully equippedsophisticate ora n o v i c ecomputer userwith a 28.8kmodem.

Two methods are designed to administerfollow-on training. The data base ofstudents completing the initial coursesare used to offer the follow-up training.

The National Guard is developing and

“If terrorists are trained via theInternet why can’t we do thesame for first responders”?


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National Terrorism Preparedness Institute Website

implementing a teleconferencing systemnationwide linking every National Guardfacility. This system will allow NTPI tooffer general and specific courses whichbuild upon the initial on-location training.The education officer for each NationalGuard facility or their designatedrepresentative could act as the NTPIrepresentative for testing and completingmaterials linked with the telecourse. Thusa first responder who is eligible for thisteleconference training could proceed tothe nearest National Guard facility on their

day off or Saturday morning for additionaltraining.

The second method of follow on trainingis via the Internet. NTPI has examinedsome technologies which offer lowcost/high value methods to offer coursesvia distance learning. NTPI along with St.Petersburg Junior College EmergencyAdministration and Management havedeveloped distance learning creditcourses which offer the following benefits:


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Has low initial cost to theInstitute.

Adopted technologies whichare portable.

Uses technologies which arel e s s i m p a c t e d b ytechnological change.

Delivers course contentusing software likely to beused by student already.

Keeps the software learningcurve minimal for bothstudents and instructors.

NTPI has a dedicated server to supportdistance learning courses. The website isestablished and current staff administerthe pages using standard Hyper-textMarkup Language software packages.Some of this software is free viashareware. NTPI shares a T-1 line(capable of 1.5 megabytes per second).Plans are being developed for expandingthis to 10 megabytes or more per second.

Since courses are offered virtuallyanywhere in the United States andterritories, course materials must beportable. As available as the Internet is,limited bandwidth, or convenience maydictate that course material be availableon CD-ROM or Zip Drives or in plainprinted format. NTPI avoids specializedInternet based software which cannotsupport itself beyond the NTPI server.

Adobe’s Acrobat and RealNetwork’s Real Media.

Adobe Acrobat is a widely used softwareprogram which allows paper documentsto appear on a computer screen or printwhile retaining the original format. Theuser needs software offered free fromAdobe which is easily installed on theusers computer. Most computers havethis software already loaded. Course

materials may be scanned and publishedinto the Acrobat format. This process,using the Acrobat software purchasedfrom Adobe, is again simple and easy touse. This allows instructors, and coursedesigners to publish course materials ontheir own.

Real Media is similar in concept toAcrobat. Real Media offers the studentboth video, slide show, and audio. Theinformation is “streamed” to the studentvia the NTPI server. The student maysee a slide show, movie or just listen to

the instructor on their home computer.The user downloads or may already havethe free software needed to use this


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method of distance learning. Real Mediasoftware for publishing is slightly moretechnical for instructors and coursedevelopers to use however it is envisionedthat most editing and published in themedium will be done by the instructors andcourse developers.

Conclusion

NTPI’s first four months of operations haveexceeded the milestones set. Aframework of expansion has been laid toassimilate new staff members, adjunctinstructors and market the program. NTPIhas established a web presence,conducted a tele-course in conjunctionwith the International Association of FireChief’s conference, developed 14 courses,conducted on-locations courses in threelocations. These exciting milestones areopening new opportunities for the comingyear of operations.


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Section II The VISION

FY99 Course Projection

NTPI will concentrate on four majorareas in FY99. We will continue to offerthe two courses presented in FY98(WMD001: Decontamination for Weaponsof Mass Destruction, A Manager’sOverview and WMD002: EmergencyResponse to Terrorism, Basic Concepts).These courses will contribute to themajority of the offerings in the firstquarter. We will also present the initialdeliveries of the ten new coursesdeveloped as part of the FY98 budget.The objective will be to validate thesecourses and train the adjunct instructorsin the first quarter and start generalofferings starting in the second quarter.In addition, we plan on putting all of theextension training materials for ourcourses on the Internet to increase ourstudent contact numbers. The last areamajor of activity will be the developmentof two new courses per quarter starting inthe second quarter of FY99.

WMD001 is currently scheduledfor two offerings in the first quarter, oneclass at the University of Massachusettsand the other at the Connecticut FireAcademy in December. Additionally, wewill tentatively offer two classes in Ft.Collins and Cotapaxi, Colorado inNovember. WMD002 is currentlyscheduled for four offerings in October forthe Orange County Sheriff’s Office in

Orlando, Florida. Additionally, thiscourse will be offered to the CollierCounty Sheriff’s Office in December.

The ten new courses developedunder last year’s budget will bescheduled as the curricula becomeavailable. We have tasked the coursedevelopers to obtain a course date,audience and classroom and to presentthe material as part of the developmentcontract. WMD004 (Pre Critical IncidentStress Debriefing for WMD Incidents) istentatively scheduled for initial deliveryduring the second week of November. Allof the other courses are still undernegotiation for the first delivery.

The course validation process willserve two purposes: vetting thecurriculum and providing a pool ofpotential adjunct instructors. We plan onhaving a minimum of four qualifiedsubject matter experts evaluate eachcourse. They will submit a writtenevaluation of the course’s applicability,accuracy and presentation quality, whichwill be used to make the appropriatechanges to the curriculum. We will thenuse these subject matter experts as aninitial pool of adjunct instructors.

Internet training extensionmaterials will be offered for all of ourcourses on a limited access basis.Participants will be required to register on


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line (so that we can verify need to know),obtain a password and complete courseactivities prior to obtaining a certificate ofcompletion for each course. We arecurrently setting up our web site to allowfor password access for Internetextension training. This should becompleted by the end of the first quarterFY99.

NTPI will have three coursecoordinators on staff for the first quarterand plan to hire two additionalcoordinators during this time period (thenew coordinators will not be effectively intheir jobs until the second quarter ofFY99). Our target is to have eachcoordinator establish an average of twocourses per week. We expect to see adramatic increase in course offeringsstarting in the second quarter due toincreased awareness of our organization,the buildup of coordinators and growth ofthe pool of adjunct instructors. Ourmarketing efforts have concentrated onsending letters to all of the state’semergency management agencies, usingpersonal contacts and networking atmajor conferences and conventions.

Our Current projection for the firstquarter of FY99 is to offer a total of 34courses with 1700 students. Thecoordinators currently on staff arehandling curriculum design, coursecoordination, course deliveries andspecial projects. New coordinators willnot have these additional duties, so theywill have greater time to dedicate to thescheduling of classes. Projections for thesecond through fourth quarters of FY99

include the new coordinators at threeclasses per week. Our goal is to conduct384 classes in the remaining three-quarters of FY99 for a total direct contactof 11,520 students. Our student totalswill increase as a result of Internetextension training, video conferencingand special events, which are set up asadditional duties.

Future course development will be donebased on needs identified from studentfeedback. We are planning on two topicsper quarter starting in the second quarterof FY99. The topics have already beenidentified as The HAZMAT-EODCrossover for WMD Terrorism and TheRole of the Public Information Officer inWMD Incidents. We will let contracts onthese two courses in the beginning of thequarter with the target for the initialoffering set as the beginning of the nextquarter.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

FY ’99 Consequence ManagementProductions

The NTPI schedule for FY ’99includes four satellite broadcasts and onedocumentary. The broadcasts will beapproximately two hours in length andprovide topic-specific training to firstresponders nationwide. Teamwork andhands-on training at downlink sites areplanned to compliment each broadcast.Internet networking and written follow-upwill reinforce coursework and providestudents with a valuable database ofglobal information and contacts. Post-


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show content assessment will beconducted with future broadcastsmodified accordingly. As Dr. Buck is considered a globalauthority on the issues of WMD andTerrorism Preparedness, this office willsee an increase in requests from thenational and international press. Positivepositioning of the NTPI, Dr. Buck andSPJC/National Guard will be ongoing.

BROADCAST #1 “Transferringthe European Approach to Terrorism intoa U.S. Model”

A panel of experts from NorthernIreland, London, Israel and Africa willdiscuss the creation of a US model for consequencemanagement. Pre-produced roll-ins willprovide detailed examination of twosuccessful programs. Two-way audio, faxand e-mail will enable viewers to interact withour distinguished panel.

BROADCAST #2 “Weapons ofMass Destruction: Terrorism in the Citiesof America”

Follow-up to the highly successful15 September 1998 broadcast inLouisville, Kentucky. The program willkeynote the International Association ofFire Chiefs annual convention in KansasCity. Pre-produced roll-ins will highlightsuccessful national programs, and thesatellite audience will interact with thepanel as described above.

BROADCAST #3 proposed jointproject with the Bureau of Justice and theOffice of Domestic Preparedness

BROADCAST #4 “Multi-AgencyResponse to Terrorist Threats”

It is proposed that Chief MarioTreveno of the Las Vegas FireDepartment will lead a panel discussionon this issue. Supporting videotape willbe produced, and the national audiencewill interact with the panel as statedabove.

DOCUMENTARY “The ColdZone: First Responders Deal withWeapons of Mass Destruction”

This fifteen-minute videotapedetails specific warning signs of terroristincidents. Chemical, Explosive, and CrimeScene/Terrorism Incident scenarios areincluded and incident escalation techniques arestressed. Footage from actual eventscombined with personal interviews will prepare firstresponders for successful terrorist scenecontrol. Thirty-five to fifty thousand copies of “TheCold Zone” (wt) will be produced by BJAand distributed to first respondersnationwide.


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Mobile Emergency Operations Center(MEOC) Trainer

Phase One

Phase One of the MEOC consistsrequisitioning equipment for workstationsand building the infrastructure to supportMEOC communications and dataprocessing. Phase One and declarationof Initial Operational Capability (IOC) isscheduled for 31 January 99. Todemonstrate IOC, a typical workstation isassembled with a communications linkboth via VHF radio and the portable PBXtelephone system. VHF radios arefrequency programable nationally whereNTPI can actually integrate them into ahosts radio system. For example theRed, White and Blue Mutual Aidfrequencies for the Florida Fire Chief’sAssociation. At the IOC, the MEOC iscapable of conducting limited trainingoperations. Most internal messaging andcommunications is manual using ICSforms. Some computer capabilities willenhance the operations by providingmapping, emergency managementsoftware programs and word processing.The emergency management specificsoftware program used is EM2000 whichis used in the State Division ofEmergency Management EmergencyOperations Center. Initial training on the MEOC consists ofbuilding a cadre of highly qualified firstresponders to test and evaluate theMEOC capabilities. This training sessionconsists of deploying the MEOC to a fieldlocation, setting up ICS workstations and

conducting a mock disaster simulation.Two one week courses are planned forthis evaluation as well documentingtraining concepts for future incorporationinto planned courses. This is a NTPI andState Div is ion o f EmergencyManagement operation.

Phase Two

Phase Two of the MEOC is scheduled forcompletion on 1 June 99. This will bringthe MEOC to Full Operational Capability(FOC). This phase consists of furtherbuilding of MEOC computer capabilitiesby integrating a portable InformationSystems network linking everyworkstation. Every workstation will havecomput ing and communicat ioncapabilities which include email, intra andInternet access. Every workstation will beable to assimilate, print, fax or emailinformation on demand. FOC requiresthat the MEOC be fully land and airtransportable. The packaging containersto protect and facilitate transport will bein-place to fully enable rapid transport.

Phase Three

Phase Three of the MEOC is themaintenance phase. As equipment isattrited and upgrades are needed a full-time operations officer is planned tomaintain the MEOC capability. After 1June 99 the MEOC will be integrated fullyinto the planned course offerings.Emergency Management specific anddata bases required for MEOC operationsare maintained in a “ready” status.Documents for MEOC stand-up, stand-


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down, transport, and operations will becomplete by the end of 1 Oct 99.

Courses Associated with the MEOC

Three levels of courses are anticipatedfor MEOC operations. These aresupplemental and separate from thecurrent WMD series courses.

MEOC 001 Initial MEOC Training

This is familiarization with MEOCconcepts and capabilities. The MEOCmay be used for this training or substitutehands-on training with the use ofextensive graphics to depict MEOCoperations. Approximately six classesare planned for the second through fourthquarter of FY 1999. This is a 4 hourcourse.

MEOC 002 ICS/ESF Training

This is actual hands on training withMEOC workstation equipment with ansimulated disaster scenario. Thisqualifies a first responder to work in theMEOC either to train students or conductexercises. Approximately six classes areplanned for the second through fourthquarter of FY 1999. This is an eight hourcourse.

MEOC 003 Command and ControlTraining

This is a limited course for advanced firstresponders who could lead and managea MEOC. This is a hands on coursewhich trains first responders advanced

concepts in integrating MEOC operationsinto the Integrated EmergencyManagement System. Approximately fourclasses are planned for the secondthrough fourth quarter of FY 1999. Thisis an 8 hour course.

MEOC Administration

The primary mission of MEOC is tosupport hands on training for firstresponders. This is primarily the thirdphase of training for first responders. Asthe data base of course completionsgrows (approximately 10%) the utilizationof the MEOC is anticipated to growrapidly after 1 June 1999. NTPI staff willmaintain this data base.

Staffing for the MEOC is at least one full-time and six qualified first responderswho will accompany the MEOC onlocation. Workstation staffing and thecommand staff is filled by local firstresponders who have completed thequalification training.

New Technology

The NTPI website is established on thenew Dell server. This server is highlycapable and will not need furtherhardware upgrades for at least one year.Software and website maintenance willrequire contract work to improve thesecurity and added features of the currentwebsite. Some enhancements that areanticipated include, guest book, on-lineregistration, database compilation,security authorizations, etc.


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As technology changes NTPI anticipatesupgrading its capabilities to meet thechange and demand. Some forecastedchanges are upgrading software. NTPIuses Real Networks Real Publisher andReal Server to “stream” live and archivedvideo and audio to students. Thesestudents are primarily in their secondphase of training conducted via theInternet. NTPI is currently licensed for upto 100 streams. As course expansioncontinues, we may need to buy anupgrade block to 200 streams or more.

NTPI also anticipate a fuller integrationof the Adobe Acrobat software. Ascurriculum designers turn out courses,these materials will be published inAcrobat. NTPI used Adobe Acrobat andCapture software. These may be

upgraded in the coming FY99 toincorporate new changes. NTPI isadamant about keeping technology costslow as well as ease of use of software.These technologies insure that.

Hardware upgrades are planned toincrease the “bandwidth” capabilities fromthe current 300 KB to at least 5 MB byDecember 1999. This added bandwidthsupports the Real Media “streaming”courses planned in phase two. RealMedia will require a dedicated“streaming” server as well asencoding/editing computer workstation.This hardware will cost approximately$40,000. As Internet courses are addedthis additional hardware will be needed tosupport the development of coursematerials.

Comments concerning this report:National Terrorism Preparedness Institute

SPJC Allstate CenterP.O. Box 13489

St. Petersburg, FL 33733-3489(727) 341-4556

or visit our website at:http://terrorism..spjc.cc.fl.us