Chris Keathley attended and completed the Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings course, which was held Feb. 12 through 16 at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, N.M.
Keathley said the course, which, along with the entire trip, was paid for by Homeland Security, covered a variety of topics, including how to recognize improvised explosive devices, such as letter bombs and briefcase bombs, and how to recognize common items that can be used to make a bomb. He said he also learned what to do during bomb calls at a school.
He said that all schools are required to have bomb evacuation plans, which are separate from their fire evacuation plans. Keathley said he is currently in the process of contacting all the schools in the county to get a copy of the their bomb evacuation plans.
Keathley said there were 43 people in his class, which included New York City firefighters and police, military personnel, and first responders from across the country.
Since completing the course, Keathley said he can now train other law enforcement and first responder personnel, teaching them how to recognize and respond to bombs.
