The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is conducting a basic training programme at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.

The five-day training programme, aimed at enhancing the preparedness of Airport Emergency Handlers to respond to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies at the airports, started on Monday.

The CBRN emergencies pertain to threats emanating due to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material.

Handling emergency

The training programme is being conducted in collaboration with the Airport Authority of India (AAI), Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

Handling CBRN emergencies need specialised skills and efforts. In fact, even a small CBRN-related event can cause panic among people at the airports. This training programme aims to improve the CBRN safety at airports by enabling the AEHs to handle any emergency.

The programme consists of lectures as well as field training, including live demonstrations of detection and decontamination including use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Besides equipping the AEHs to handle CBRN emergencies, the training programme will enable them to provide first aid and initial psycho-social support.

Experts from Department of Atomic Energy, INMAS, National Centre for Disease Control, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences will train the participants.

This is the seventh in a series of such programmes being conducted at airports across the country to enable AEHs to respond suitably till the arrival of specialised response teams.

Six batches have already been trained in Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Varanasi, Patna and Ahmedabad.

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