National Domestic Preparedness Consortium

LSU NCBRT/ACE has received $21.1 million from the Department of Homeland Security through FEMA to continue its national mission of preparing first responders and public-safety professionals for terrorism, disasters and other complex threats. As a founding member of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, LSU NCBRT/ACE has received more than $538 million in federal funding and…

New Mexico Tech hosted the annual National Bomb Squad Commander’s Conference September 21-24th. The conference, an annual gathering of public safety bomb squad commanders, provides training on emerging threats and input to shape research, counter-IED technology, safety equipment, and tactics for bomb technicians.  The National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board (NBSCAB) works in close partnership…

Instructors teaching New Mexico Tech’s Drone Assessment and Response Tactics (DART) course recently underwent their own training to deliver the new version of the course (overviewed in a previous article). This training involved walkthroughs of each module, all discussions, and all activities. As part of their training, the instructors were briefed on the new drone detection…

Participants in New Mexico Tech’s first responder training courses will now have an upgraded experience with the brand new homemade explosives (HME) lab. Building upon lessons learned from the original HME lab, the new space is located right next to the Virtual Preparedness and Explosive Response (ViPER) center. As detailed in a prior article, the…

For Steven Ray, supporting first responders goes beyond the job; it’s personal. After experiencing and witnessing the mental toll that emergency response takes on firefighters, emergency medical technicians, law enforcement officers, paramedics and dispatchers, Ray wanted to build a support system within his department but needed guidance to begin. That desire led him to Support…

Baton Rouge, LA — Law enforcement and public safety professionals across Michigan now have expanded access to DHS/FEMA-certified training designed to strengthen readiness for active threats, complex coordinated attacks, criminal intelligence operations, active shooter emergency response, and suspicious activity recognition. Several courses delivered by the Louisiana State University National Center for Biomedical Research and Training…

Version 2 of New Mexico Tech’s Drone Assessment and Response Tactics (DART) course recently was certified. This course series, available in both residential and mobile deliveries, was revised to reflect significant legal and regulatory changes involving counter-UAS operations. The framework provided by the Safeguarding the Homeland from the Threats Posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act…

Baton Rouge, LA — Law enforcement officers across Pennsylvania now have expanded access to nationally recognized DHS/FEMA-certified training designed to strengthen readiness for today’s most complex threats. Through newly granted approval by the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission (MPOETC), Pennsylvania officers who are Act 120-certified can receive in-service Continuing Law Enforcement Education (CLEE)…

College Station and Richardson, Texas — As part of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium’s (NDPC) mission to strengthen the Nation’s preparedness and response capabilities, Counterterrorism Operations Support (CTOS) program, in partnership with the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), recently delivered PER-348: Response to a Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) – Overview and Implementation of the…

At New Mexico Tech, the EMRTC first responders training team is leveraging AI tools to create custom decorative images for their courses, enhancing the visual quality of their training modules. In the past, finding high-quality, relevant images for course slides was both a time-consuming and difficult process. Challenges include navigating copyright restrictions and sometimes the…