First Responders Complete Homeland Security Training

6/3/2019

Charleston, W.Va. – Recently, four state and local first responders from West Virginia completed training giving them the skills needed to instruct the Bomb-Making Materials Awareness Program file-9 (003).jpeg

(BMAP) Outreach Officers course. This course gives participants the ability to conduct outreach to industries and businesses, increasing public and private sector awareness of homemade explosive (HME) precursor chemicals and improvised explosive device (IED) components.

A national outreach program, BMAP is sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP), designed to increase awareness of the use of HME precursor chemicals, explosive powders, and IED components. Through increased awareness, BMAP builds a network of vigilant and informed private sector partners who serve as the Nation’s first line of defense in providing early detection of the sale of HME precursor chemicals to suspect individuals.

“West Virginia has a long-standing relationship with the OBP, and BMAP is another great tool to educate people to be more vigilant,” said Bill Minear, Deputy Director of the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s Infrastructure Protection Program. “We now have a core team of first-responders to train public and private sectors to recognize the supplies used in bomb-making and report suspicious activity to the proper authorities.”

The BMAP training is offered by the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), in Anniston, Ala. The CDP is operated by the DHS Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is the only federally chartered Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) training facility in the nation. Training at the CDP campus is federally funded at no cost to state, local, and tribal emergency response professionals or their agency.

For more information about the CDP, contact the CDP External Affairs Office, at (256) 847-2212/2316 or e-mail pao@cdpemail.dhs.gov.

If you or your business would like to attend or host a BMAP training, please contact Bill Minear at william.a.minear@wv.gov.

Contact Information

WV Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Public Information Officer, Lora D. Lipscomb at: (304) 558-5380 or email: lora.d.lipscomb@wv.gov