Every day in our nation and around the World, people perform their daily routines without thoughts of disasters or emergencies. Unfortunately, and usually when we least expect them, they strike. Lives are disrupted dramatically, and people are abruptly forced into extreme situations and conditions that they are usually not prepared to face. Events such as the destruction of New York City’s World Trade Center in 2001, the Indonesian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina have shown us just how vulnerable our society is.They have lasting effects; produce millions (in many cases billions) of dollars in property damage an indeterminable amounts of human suffering.

We must also gird ourselves to face the horrifying reality of terrorists utilizing mass casualty (biological & chemical) and weapons of mass destruction (WOMD’s) (Nuclear,) against our major cities. A large-scale attack of this type would test and in many cases overwhelm responders & local and federal relief agencies.