Important Capacity Building initiatives on CBRN Emergencies

Equipping and training of police personnel on management of radiological emergency: Mobile Radiation Detection System:
NDMA has carried out a project, “Mobile Radiation Detection System” under which police personnel have been equipped and trained on management of radiological emergency in public domain. Under the project, police personnel in select cities have been provided, PPEs, radiation detectors, including, vehicle mounted Go-NoGo radiation meters. A proportionate number of police personnel from all the cities, covered in the project, have been trained in batches under training of trainers programme. SoP for handling of the MRDS during routine surveillance and emergency management, has been prepared and included in the training of trainers programme.
The project is expected to significantly enhance the CBRN safety status in public areas against mishandling, malicious use of radioisotopes, RDD, transport accident, orphan sources etc. It will also act as a deterrent against trafficking of any radioactive material.

Basic training on CBRN Emergency Management for Airports and Seaports:
Staff of major airports and seaports have been trained on management of CBRN incidents. The initiative was taken subsequent to a few incidents in public area. NDMA conducted gap analysis of the safety practices in the ports and based on the findings training of staff was initiated. The programme has been successfully completed in major airports and seaports. The initiative is being extended to additional ports.

Revision of DDMPs of the districts with NPPs:
The DDMPs of the seven districts, where nuclear power plants (NPP) are located are being reviewed and strengthened. A document preparation profile (DPP), giving guidelines on preparation of DDMPs of the districts with NPPs has been prepared and shared with the concerned districts. The effort will bring adequate details and uniformity in the documents.

Publication of manual on medical management of radiological emergency:
A book on medical management of nuclear and radiological emergencies was published in 2019. The manual, which has been prepared with the support of domain experts, aims to serve as a practical resource guide for management of any nuclear or radiological emergency. It also explains the roles and responsibilities of the members of the emergency medical response organizations which includes the response initiation team, the emergency medical personnel on the scene and the hospital radiological response team.