CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package

Members of the Oregon National Guard conducting decontamination operations as part of a training exercise in 2014

CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Packages (CERFP) are an initiative of the United States National Guard designed to integrate existing national guard units into the broader federal and local civilian emergency response personnel in instances of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) disasters. ^[1] The creation of CERFPs by the US Congress in 2004, initially provided for the creation of 12 teams corresponding to the 10 region designations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and two teams for regions three and nine, on the US east and west coasts respectively. This was later expanded in 2006 for a total of 17 teams nationwide. ^[2]

A CERFP consists of four to five elements:

• Command and control, which directs the overall mission and reports to the incident commander
• Search and rescue or extraction, which conducts rescue operations and the stabilization of damaged structures
• Decontamination, which conducts mass casualty decontamination
• Medical, which provides triage and medical support for victims and military personnel
• Fatalities search and recovery, which recovers human remains ^{[3] [4]}

CERFPs have an expected response time of between six and 12 hours. They may consist of 200 or more personnel, who are trained to civilian standards set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Fire Protection Association. ^{[1] [2]}

See also

• Emergency management
• Disaster response

References

1. Bert B. Tussing; Robert McCreight (24 November 2014). Introduction to Homeland Defense and Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA): The U.S. Military's Role to Support and Defend. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   978-14665-9569-9.
2. J. Larsen (30 May 2013). Responding to Catastrophic Events: Consequence Management and Policies. Palgrave Macmillan US. pp. 101–. ISBN   978-1-137-33643-9.
3. Mark Sauter; James Carafano (12 April 2019). Homeland Security: A Complete Guide 3E. McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN   978-1-260-14294-5.
4. "Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield explosive Enhanced Response Force Package" (PDF). National Guard. Retrieved 7 July 2019.

External links

• Buehrer, Lealan. "CERFP: When first responders call 911". Air National Guard . Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
• "Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High-Yield Explosives Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP)/Homeland Response Force (HRF) Operations" (PDF). United States Air Force . 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 7, 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.