National Domestic Preparedness Consortium meets in College Station

COLLEGE STATION – The quarterly meeting of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC) drew 66 attendees representing all seven consortium members as well as the Department of Homeland Security/FEMA to College Station on Jan. 7-10. The NDPC State Administrative Agencies (SAA) Advisory Council members also met in conjunction with the consortium.

The meeting was hosted by the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC), which is operated by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX).

Participants learned about the homeland security curriculum offered by TEEX, including the Web EM*ES emergency management simulation software. They also participated in a short exercise at the TEEX Emergency Operations Training Center, demonstrating how the software is used in the popular course, Enhanced All-Hazards Incident Management/ Unified Command. After hearing an overview of the agency and its core competencies, the group toured Brayton Fire Training Field and Disaster City?.

In addition to committee meetings and a legislative update, the group heard a briefing from the National Nuclear Security Administration on the Render Safe Program. Following a tour of the Bush Library and Museum on Jan. 8, a dinner was held at the Annenberg Presidential Dining Room with remarks by Andy Card, former White House Chief of Staff and head of President George W. Bush’s White House Iraq Group.

NERRTC is one of the seven members of the NDPC, a major training partner of the DHS/FEMA National Protection and Preparedness Directorate. Other NDPC training programs include:

  • DHS/FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Ala.;
  • New Mexico Tech’s Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (NMT/EMRTC) in Socorro, NM;
  • Louisiana State University’s National Center for Biomedical Research and Training (LSU/NCBRT) in Baton Rouge, LA;
  • Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) CTOS-Center for Radiological/Nuclear Training program in Las Vegas, NV;
  • Transportation Technology Center, Inc.’s National Center for Emergency Response in Surface Transportation TTCI/NCERST) in Pueblo, CO; and
  • University of Hawai’i’s National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (UH/NDPTC) in Honolulu, HI.

About NERRTC

TEEX’s National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC) is a founding member of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), which was formed in 1998. NERRTC provides training and assistance to jurisdictions nationwide to help them prepare for all kinds of catastrophes, including natural disasters, public health emergencies and terrorism incidents. Since its inception, NERRTC has provided local, state, and federal jurisdictions with high-quality, hands-on, scenario-driven leadership training, exercises, technical assistance, and strategy development.