Responding to terrorism

Even before Sept. 11, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers were thinking of ways to combat terrorism. PNNL now contributes to the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service training program, teaching foreign firefighters, police and emergency medical personnel how to deal with weapons of mass destruction--chemical, biological and radiological--that may be used by terrorists. The training is offered to first responders in partner nations, generally in the capital, where the U.S. has an embassy or consulate.

The Laboratory, together with the Department of Energy's Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response Center (HAMMER), a training facility in Richland, Wash., has been involved with training military and civil support groups in chemical and biological warfare for the past few years. Its work with the U.S. State Department has been expanding most rapidly. "After watching the success of the Lab's international border security training program for the last three or four years, we decided to approach PNNL about training first responders," said Terry Jones of the Diplomatic Security Service Anti-Terrorism Assistance program.

The Anti-Terrorism Assistance program suggested the Laboratory develop a curriculum for operational training to complement the State Department's existing in-country classroom training for first responders.

"The operational training we offer at HAMMER involves a series of field exercises to familiarize students with the basic concepts and materials of chemical, biological and radiological threats. It includes role-playing exercises to allow students to apply what they've learned," said Barbara Seiders, manager for the Laboratory's chemical and biological defense programs. For example, students study the basics of hazard identification and personal and group protection. The next day, they arrive at class to find a distressed employee who has just discovered a powdery white substance in the package she's opened. The culmination of the course, dubbed the "big, bad unknown exercise" is an all-day response to a simulated terrorist incident that gives students the opportunity to synthesize everything they've learned.

PNNL now offers two other components of the State Department's Anti-Terrorism Assistance program. The Laboratory supports one-week introductory training classes given in the foreign countries, providing instructors with expertise in radiological hazards and weapons of mass destruction. The Laboratory also has partnered with the State Department to develop a mail handling training for international mail handlers.

Prior to the World Trade Center bombings in September, the Anti-Terrorism Assistance program's plan included giving four two-week first responder courses in fiscal year 2002. Three months later, Seiders had five 19-day courses scheduled for the next nine months, beginning in March. "We're just glad we can help," she said.