CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Packages (CERFP) are an initiative of the

United States National Guard The National Guard is a U.S. state, state-based military force that becomes part of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military's reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, reserve components of the United States Army, U.S. Army a ...

designed to integrate existing national guard units into the broader federal and local civilian emergency response personnel in instances of

chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) or Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection (NBC protection) is a class of protective measures taken in situations where chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclea ...

(CBRNE) disasters. The creation of CERFPs by the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in 2004, initially provided for the creation of 12 teams corresponding to the 10 region designations of the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

, and two teams for regions three and nine, on the US east and west coasts respectively. This was later expanded in 2006 for a total of 17 teams nationwide. A CERFP consists of four to five elements: * Command and control, which directs the overall mission and reports to the

incident commander The Incident Commander is the person responsible for all aspects of an emergency response; including quickly developing incident objectives, managing all incident operations, application of resources as well as responsibility for all persons invol ...

* Search and rescue or extraction, which conducts rescue operations and the stabilization of damaged structures * Decontamination, which conducts

mass casualty A mass casualty incident (often shortened to MCI) describes an incident in which emergency medical services resources, such as personnel and equipment, are overwhelmed by the number and severity of casualties. For example, an incident where a tw ...

decontamination * Medical, which provides triage and medical support for victims and military personnel * Fatalities search and recovery, which recovers

human remains Human remains may refer to: A corpse or skeleton * A deceased human body ** A cadaver ** A skeleton Music * Human Remains (band) Human Remains was an American grindcore band, formed in 1989 in New Jersey. The band featured the vocalist Paul ...

CERFPs have an expected response time of between six and 12 hours. They may consist of 200 or more personnel, who are trained to civilian standards set forth by the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA; ) is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. The United States Congress established ...

and the

National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a U.S.-based international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property damage, and economic loss due to fire, electrical, and related hazards. , the NFPA claims to have 5 ...

References

External links

* * Emergency management Disaster management National Guard (United States) Military units and formations established in 2004 NBC units and formations {{US-mil-stub

See also

References

External links