REP Radiological Emergency Response Operations (RERO)

Course Purpose. During an emergency, responders must be aware of the precautions and procedures for responding safely to a radiological incident. In this course, participants will learn the concepts, equipment, and procedures related to radiological incident response including a commercial nuclear power facility incident. Major aspects of responding to a radiological incident are maintaining responder and citizen safety and identifying the type and scope of the radiological hazard. Participants work as a class throughout the course and are organized into small groups to perform radiological emergency response operations in a realistic environment for round-robin exercises. The course culminates in an exercise that implements the Incident Command System (ICS) in response to an incident and requires team coordination. The course adheres to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP) Program, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Manual of Protective Action Guides and Protective Actions for Nuclear Incidents (PAG) and other federal regulations.

Course Goal. At the conclusion of the “Radiological Emergency Response Operations” course, participants will be able to safely respond to and manage incidents involving various radiological hazards through a practical, performance-oriented, team-response approach.

Course Scope. “Radiological Emergency Response Operations” is a five-day, 40-hour training course offering lectures, hands-on practice, and small group exercises. Participants review content, discuss information, and practice skills necessary to effectively respond to a radiological incident. The course culminates with a final team exercise integrating the emergency response operations skills and training learned during the course. Topics for this course include:

a. Radiological Concepts and Biological Effects
b. Regulatory Agencies, PAGs, Limits
c. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Levels
d. Decontamination
e. Transportation and Emergency Response Guide (ERG)
f. Nuclear Power
g. Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
h. Industrial Accidents
i. Detector Theory
j. Direct-Reading Dosimeters
k. UltraRadiac – Electronic Personal Dosimeter (EPD)
l. Air Sampler
m. RadResponder
n. Radiological Team Positions
o. Surveying
p. Sampling
q. Pre-Hospital Handling
r. Community Reception Center

Target Audience. The target audience for this course is any member of organized Federal, state, local, or tribal radiological/hazardous materials response teams who are responsible for responding to or managing a radiological incident. Personnel assigned to such teams include, but not limited to:

a.    Fire service;

b.    Law enforcement;

c.    Health physicists;

d.    Industrial hygienists;

e.    Environmental Health;

f.     Radiological safety officers; and

g.    Other emergency service and response personnel with similar responsibilities.

h.    Federal evaluators of commercial nuclear power facilities’ off-site REP exercises and state, local, tribal, and utility personnel who are involved in the development of offsite REP plans and exercises may also attend including any responders outside of the 10- and 50-mile emergency planning zones (EPZ).

To be eligible for the course, the student must successfully complete the following courses:

• AWR-923-W Radiological Emergency Management
• Awareness-level training for all-hazards response through AWR-160 Standardized Awareness Training or another certified awareness-level training program
• IS-100.b, Introduction to the Incident Command System, 
• IS-200.b, ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents,
• IS-700.a, National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction, 
• IS-800.b, National Response Framework (NRF), An Introduction
• AWR-928-W, Introduction to the Nuclear Response Annex

It is also recommended that a candidate complete IS-300 Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents.