The OPCW Director-General and Deputy Director-General and participants in the Assistance-and-Protection training for instructors.
The first OPCW Assistance-and-Protection training for instructors was organised by the Technical Secretariat in The Hague from 12 to 16 November 2012. The course provided training to instructors from 27 States Parties* who will train emergency response personnel for chemical weapons incidents in their own countries.
The course exposed participants to the widest possible range of experience and expertise available in the Technical Secretariat. Practical aspects of the training took place at a specialist facility in Wassenaar, adjacent to The Hague.
The theoretical lectures focused on how to prepare and deliver a training course on response to a chemical weapons incident. Extensive information was also provided on best practices regarding protection against chemicals and the methods of dispersion of chemical agents. The course also engaged the participants in practical exercises in using chemical protective equipment, sampling, detection, and decontamination techniques in response to attacks with toxic chemicals.
* Algeria, Austria, Barbados, Belarus, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Estonia, India, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Netherlands, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Rwanda, Serbia, St. Kitts and Nevis, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Ukraine