Police officers know how to shoot guns and kick down doors, but they must also learn to operate in biologically hazardous situations with physical and chemical dangers.Emergency response agencies look to the University for lessons like these — specifically, to the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training.NCBRT is based on campus and trains people across the country to deal with emergency situations.”We offer classes to first responders around the country to respond to terrorist attacks as well as other types of hazards like natural disasters,” said Julie Cavin, NCBRT public affairs and outreach coordinator.NCBRT offers courses in fields like tactical operations, which are used in SWAT teams, and advanced forensics.Jason Krause, NCBRT assistant director of operations and plans, said the courses don’t teach basic forensic skills for responders, such as taking fingerprints or impression evidence, but how to use those skills in extreme scenarios.”They have to have those skills already,” Krause said. “We teach them how to apply the skills and do their job in a hazardous environment.” These skills include how to collect evidence when there is a potential chemical threat that can affect both safety and the quality of a crime scene.NCBRT is based at the University, but none of the training takes place on campus. The courses are mobile, and instructors travel across the country to teach at emergency response agencies. Instructors are based throughout the nation and  travel to specific sites for courses. Krause said the average amount of experience for instructors is 27 years, and many are former University professors or administrators.He said the mobile delivery of courses is cost-effective because sending instructors and equipment to another location is cheaper than the cost of airfare and lodging for a large group of students.This type of training is also best administered where the skills would be used, Krause said.”For these types of skills, it’s better to do courses where they would really respond,” he said.Training takes place nationally, but NCBRT conducts courses for Baton Rouge police and fire departments.NCBRT is part of a larger organization, the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, which is a training partner of the Department of Homeland Security. NCBRT is one of seven members of the consortium, including other centers in states like Nevada, Texas and New Mexico.Each of the seven centers has several areas of expertise on which their training focuses. NCBRT’s areas are law enforcement, biological events, food defense and agriculture events.NCBRT was created on campus in 1998 and is federally funded for $23 million per year.”Our funding increased dramatically after 9/11 and the ensuing anthrax letter events,” Krause said.NCBRT has trained more than 230,000 responders since its inception and had nearly 3 million contact hours with trainees.
Training courses are offered to responder agencies at no cost to the agency because the NDPC and NCBRT are training partners of the Department of Homeland Security.”When someone signs up for a class, it is completely funded by a Department of Homeland Security grant, except they are out the time of the people who take the class,” Cavin said.Emergency services organizations must pay peopleto be on duty while other officers are in training, Krause said.”That’s not the kind of job where you can say, ‘We’re closing down the office today,'” he said.
 
 
 
– – – -Contact Ryan Buxton at [email protected]