Undergraduate Certificate in Weapons of Mass Destruction Preparedness

This course addresses the potential results from nuclear, biological, and chemical incidents or uses. Topics include public health consequences of such incidents, emergency planning and response measures in place among U.S. agencies, and emerging detection and management technologies. Existing vulnerabilities to these types of incidents and attacks will also be discussed. Objectives of the course include identification of the historical development and use of chemical and biological weapons; definition of the types of chemical and biological weapons and their impacts; analysis of case studies related to the development and use of chemical and biological weapons, and research on chemical and biological warfare.

This course provides an overview of the chemical and biological threat that America and the rest of the industrialized nations face today. Subjects to be covered include weapons of mass destruction (WMD) technologies, equipment and response assets, and patterns of global terrorism. Additionally, the course will cover homeland security concerns and the US Government's plans and programs to execute a response to a WMD incident.

This course is a study of the emergency response to terrorism process, to include knowledge of response tasks, toxicology, mass casualty triage, decontamination, and other operational issues.

This course for the non-scientist, is a study of chemical, biological, and radiological science involved in the different forms of weapons of mass destruction. The course covers topics of basic science, treatment, short- and long- term effects, among other issues central to understanding hostile WMD agents.

This course is a study of the Incident Command System (ICS) as it applies to a WMD response. Students will be provided with knowledge of the ICS and case scenarios of its use in a variety of settings. The course includes a scenario-driven exercise in which students must “respond” through the ICS command and staffing process to a national event.

This course focuses on the legal and regulatory issues associated with WMD response. Its topics include: associated public law, reporting authorities, jurisdictional and functional issues that govern organizational, technical, medical, scientific, moral/ethical issues, and, other aspects of response.