Agroterrorism Preparedness Training for Frontline Responders
The Western Institute for Food Safety & Security (WIFSS) was established to ensure the safety of California's food supply. WIFSS combines the expertise of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Department of Health Services, the University of California, private industry, and federal agencies to address emerging threats to the food system.
Course DescriptionsThe Western Institute for Food Safety & Security (WIFSS) is a training partner of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is tasked with the development and delivery of DHS certified courses on agroterrorism. WIFSS is developing and delivering training for local frontline response teams to strengthen their capability to prevent/mitigate, detect, respond to, and recover from agroterrorism incidents in their communities. The overall goal of this effort is to enhance preparedness at the front lines to attacks on agriculture or the food system by weapons of mass destruction.
The curriculum, comprised of six courses, is geared to introduce the concepts of agroterrorism to both frontline response teams and agricultural industry leaders. Together, these groups need to interact to form a coalition of community teams to develop appropriate responses to potential targets.
Although not a requirement, it is recommended that participants follow the courses in order presented. The following is a synopsis of the six WIFSS Agroterrorism courses:
1. Understanding the Dangers of
Agroterrorism
The course goal is to increase awareness among local and regional emergency
response teams about the potential targets and impacts of agroterrorism. By
creating a new alliance among traditional first responders and the
agricultural industry, communities can begin to develop plans to mitigate
acts of agroterrorism. The course raises awareness about the
need to identify and defend against pathogens, chemical and biological
contaminants, and other hazards that affect the safety of the foods
we eat. The course stresses the importance of responding to incidents
of intentional contamination as well as natural disasters using the “all
hazards” approach.
2. Principles of Preparedness for Agroterrorism
and Food Systems’ Disasters
The course goal is to prepare participants with the skills and knowledge
to recognize agroterrorism vulnerabilities. Topics include identifying
targets, developing prevention, protection and mitigation strategies,
employing the principles of building multi-disciplinary response teams,
and identifying the roles of the local, state and federal agencies
prior to and during an agricultural or food system disaster.
3. Principles of Detection and Diagnosis—Strategies
and Technologies:
The course goal is to inform members of frontline response teams about
the importance of early detection and diagnosis, proper sample collection
and the steps involved in an agroterrorism-related outbreak investigation.
The course includes strategies to improve and increase detection and
diagnosis efficiency as well as the epidemiological and criminal investigation
process.
4. Principles of National Incident Management System
(NIMS), Team Building and Risk Communication
The course goal is to describe the operational features of NIMS,
understand how NIMS is essential for community preparedness, outline
the logistics of the Incident Command System (ICS), understand
methods of team building and explain principles of risk communication. This course is
designed to educate members of frontline response teams on how to best
use the NIMS, team building and principles of risk communication when
responding to an intentional or unintentional attack on a segment of
agriculture or the food system. This course meets all of
the NIMS/ICS training requirements for FEMA IS-700 NIMS.
5. Principles of Frontline Response to Agroterrorism
and Food Systems’ Disasters
The goal of this course is to demonstrate how an effective frontline
emergency response can reduce or mitigate the effects of an agricultural
emergency, an act of agroterrorism or other food systems disaster. In
so doing, frontline agricultural and public safety response teams including
personnel from the county, regional, state and federal agencies will
be provided with a comprehensive program formed around the principles
of the Incident Command System (ICS) and the concept of Unified Command. This
course includes a plan that can be used as an "all hazards" approach
against a wide variety of potential problems and occurrences within
the agricultural community. Individuals who complete this course
will be motivated to form and maintain appropriate community frontline
response teams.
6. Principles of Planning and Implementing Recovery
The goal of this course is to provide the fundamental framework for
orchestrating the recovery from an incident of agroterrorism. The
course will cover the four critical factors for success in a community
recovery effort and be able to apply them in a hypothetical crisis. Identification
of the components of a recovery plan targeted at minimizing the economic
impact to the community and its citizens; and the identification
of community resources and assets available for building partnerships
and teams will be covered.