Weapons of Mass Destruction

Events of the last decade, including the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 the term "Weapons of Mass Destruction" has been burned into the American psyche. Emergency responders have seen a paradigm shift in the way we do business. For the first time in our history we have had to face the fact that we are the targets of those who would attack our country, both from within and without.

 Jefferson Parish has adopted the goals of training our responders to recognize and identify acts of terrorism and giving them the tools and equipment to respond quickly and safely to protect the citizens of the Parish. Towards these goals the Emergency Management Department has been aggressively seeking grant funds to help cover the cost of needs in this new response discipline. These funds will be used to:

1. identify our desired capabilities through planning,

2. develop exercises that will help us to identify our current capabilities

3. purchase response equipment, training materials and specialized training classes to  meet those desired capabilities.

In the pages attached one can find information on specific grant programs, WMD training , and recent events and the current threat level set by the US Department of Homeland Security.