THE United States is continuing to capacitate the Philippines to build its capability in responding to threats and attacks related to the use of chemical and nuclear weapons.
A news statement from the US Embassy in Manila said that personnel of Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) have been training members of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in dealing with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) attacks.
The exercise with the BFP, the government’s response agency for CBRN, began on Wednesday in Metro Manila and will last until weekend, with Cebu and Davao as regional sites.
The DTRA administered the training in order to hone the response skills of the BFP and allow government agencies to practice responding to a simulated CBRN incident within the capital.
“The exercise began with a supposed chemical incident in Manila followed by the establishment of an Incident Command Post. The Philippine government quickly organized a mock interagency response, coordinating more than 20 agencies,” the statement said.
“BFP responders triaged simulated casualties on site and prepared them for initial treatment and transfer to the Philippine General Hospital. Hospital staff then practiced treating the casualties and identifying the chemical agents involved by using the mass casualty decontamination equipment provided by DTRA,” it added.
The embassy said the training reflect the years of support, assistance and cooperation between the US and the Philippines.
The BFP was the latest government agency to benefit from the CBRN training that was being administered by the US for the Philippines.
The military has already formed a CBRN platoon out of the Army Support Command (Ascom) following the Filipino soldiers’ training in CBRN response and handling from the DTRA.
In 2015, the same platoon out of the Ascom’s Explosive Ordnance Battalion, underwent a retraining from the DTRA in Maryland in order to further beef up their skills.
The retraining was followed by successive sessions with the US military and by the turnover of the DTRA of more than $1 million worth of CBRN equipment that included protective gears and detection equipment.