New chemical ops offering now set for late 2021, early 2022 release

FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness says it will now be later this year or early 2022 before its new Chemical Operations Support Specialist Course is ready for delivery.

The five-day resident course will be part of a chemical operations support specialist program run by the agency’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Office and include both classroom instruction and practical exercises. 

It will teach hazardous materials technicians, toxicologists, chemists and others in the program how to advise and support on-scene commanders and operations center officials during incidents involving a release of hazardous chemicals.

The course was originally projected for release in the spring, but an initial draft of the offering failed to satisfy several technical and other requirements, according to Roy Marlow, a senior member of the CDP’s curriculum team.

Course developers are now working on a “significant redesign of the course,” he said.