Over 50 staff members of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will be undergoing Airport Emergency Handlers training to respond to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in collaboration with various agencies such as Airport Authority of India (AAI), Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), is training the staff working in various agencies of Operations and Maintenance of the airport.
The training was inaugurated on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on November 17 with mock drill along with sensitisation of over 200 staff.
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An NDMA official said, “This is a central government initiative. Out of the 120 airports in the country, 12 major airports have been identified for giving specialised training to handle CBRN emergencies.”
He said experts from various institutes like Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) will train the participants.
The programme covers live demonstrations of detection and decontamination, use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The emergency handlers will also undergo training on providing first aid and initial psycho-social support.
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The training programme was initiated in 2017. The NDMA has already conducted training for over 500 staff of airports in Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Varanasi, Patna, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Raipur. Two more sessions will be conducted in Thiruvananthapuram and Delhi in the coming days, officials said.