A lone madman or a nest of fanatics with a bottle of chemicals, a batch of plague inducing bacteria or a crude conventional bomb or even worse, a nuclear device that can threaten or kill hundreds of people in a single act. With incidents like the World Trade Center, and Oklahoma City, the questions are being asked "Just how vulnerable is the United States to terrorists using weapons of mass destruction?" Some experts say that we are ill prepared to meet the challanges that the threat of B-NICE products bring to the HAZMAT response. Our programs are intended to review some of your basic hazmat level skills, provide you the technician and commanders with a better understanding of what conventional competencies will work, and add to those skills in order to bridge the gap.

Unlike your previous hazardous material training there are no OSHA or EPA regulations to follow, nor might there be. No hours, no subject matter outline or any test of competencies. With this in mind we must look down various pathways to achieve our goals. Several other branches of our government already have training programs in place, some of which believe just like 20 years ago in HAZMAT responses that every B-NICE incident is going to kill the responders, require level A protective clothing, have mass amounts of people needing decon and require chemists and industrial hygienists to handle the incident. Realizing that the first on the scene in most communities will be the fire department, and most likely the closest Hazardous Material Team, our programs are designed to fill in the gap from when the first engine companies arrive, to the full blown National Response.

HAZMAT teams need to realize that taking on the responsibility for handling a terrorist incident will involve not only additional equipment but also additional training. Docimo and Associates can help you take the necessary steps in understanding the agents and the threats by building on your conventional chemical response skills, heightening your sense of awareness, and providing a good sound foundation for your specialized training needs.