The COBRA (Chemical, Ordinance, Biological, and Radiological) Unit provides terrorism awareness training for the New York City Police Departments patrol force.  The two day federally-funded course prepares front-line officers and ranking officers in the event of a terrorist attack.  The training consists of classroom lecture/instruction and scenario based exercises.  Classroom instruction includes the following:

• Terrorist threat indicators
• Weapons of mass destruction
• Level C protective equipment
• Chemical, explosive, biological and radiological weapon/agent awareness

Scenario exercises include the following:

• Putting on Level C protective equipment
• Downwind hazard awareness
• Decontamination
• Shelter in place
• Triage procedures

An annual one-day COBRA recertification course is also provided by the unit.  The refresher training is mandated by the federal government for all COBRA certified officers.