In the initial stages of response to a weapons of mass destruction incident, the dispatch center plays a crucial role in the success or failure of an emergency operation. “The Dispatcher's Guide for WMD Incidents” helps dispatchers ask the right questions so that they can obtain vital information to pass along to the Incident Commander and first responders.

The guide was written by the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center with participation by nearly a dozen fire departments, 911 centers and law enforcement agencies, according to a Critical Information Protection Infogram from the Department of Homeland Security.

The guide provides checklists for WMD incidents and can be integrated into large and small dispatch centers. View or download the guide online at www.edgewood.army.mil/hld/dl/WMD_dispatch.pdf.

As for first responders, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aired a two-hour Webcast on April 28 to help prepare first responders for the physical, emotional and mental stresses they may face at hazmat incidents.

The two-hour program, “Surviving Field Stress for First Responders,” was divided into four segments: an explanation of stress and its effects; causes of first responder stress; tips on how to manage first-responder stress; and a discussion of how to help the public cope with disaster-related stress.

A copy of the Webcast script, the accompanying slide presentation and a manual from the program can be viewed and downloaded from the CDC'S Public Health Training Network Web site at www.phppo.cdc.gov/phtn/webcast/stress-05/. The manual has resources and references for further reading.