Yannick Morvan, as Battalion Chief in the specialized operations division at the Montreal Fire Department, leads the CBRN team and program in support to the departments field operations.

Hazmat Technician since 2005 and firefighter for the last 31 years he also is the team leader of the CBRNE branch of the 6^th Canadian Heavy Urban Search and Rescue national task force of Montreal (CAN-TF6).

Finaly he his a member of the Counter Terrorism Advisory Committee of Montreal (CAAM) since 2019 and International Board Member in the  Counter Terrorism Preparedness Network (CTPN) since 2021. He was nominated in 2023 by the CTPN as Deputy Chair of the new CBRNE experts working group.

The response to terrorist attacks, as in most emergencies, occurs first and foremost at the local or municipal level. Convinced that cities that develop response capabilities in an integrated manner are more resilient during interventions of this nature, Chief Morvan works in close collaboration with the Montreal  Police Department (SPVM) under the counter terrorism advisory committee. The partnership between the Montreal FD and the SPVM on this subject is complementary considering that these events have two components: the criminal aspect (SPVM) and the protection of property, lives and the environment (SIM). It is in this spirit that they planned and coordinated anti-terrorist operations during the15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity which was held in Montreal in December 2022. To maintain this agility, the  Counter terrorism committee of Montreal analyzes the CBRNe response during upcoming major events like, for example, the arrival of the Formula 1 Grand Prix held every June in Montreal.

Chris Carpita has been the Director of Sales at 908 Devices since 2016. He led 908 devices from a true start-up to a publicly held company with thousands of high-pressure mass specs deployed worldwide. An Army Reservist, Chris has over 30 years of continuous military service as a CBRN officer, having served in the Army Guard, Reserve, USCENTCOM, USEUCOM, and USSOCOM. His current rank in the USAR rank is LTC. A world traveller, he has travelled to over 85 countries and resided in 5 countries. He attended San Jose State University with a degree in Political Science and an MBA from the University of Denver. When not traveling, he is happy at home in Annapolis, MD.

Dr. Christina Baxter is the CEO of Emergency Response TIPS, LLC which provides practical, evidence-based solutions for emergency response through the development of next generation tools for enhanced situational awareness and responder safety; instructional design materials for instructor-led and web-based programs in the areas of CBRNE, hazardous materials, and clandestine laboratory response; technology transition guidance for emerging technologies; and, emergency planning for hazardous materials and emergency response. 

Prior to forming Emergency Response TIPS, LLC, Dr. Baxter was the CBRNE Program Manager for the Department of Defense’s Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office where she was responsible for identifying capability gaps in the combating terrorism CBRNE mission space, illuminating or developing innovative solutions, and delivering them to military, interagency, and law enforcement operators in the field as rapidly as possible. Dr. Baxter holds B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Environmental Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

She has greater than 20 years of experience in the hazardous materials/CBRN response community where she remains active in teaching and participating in standards development processes.  She is currently the chairperson of the NFPA Technical Committee on Chemical Protective Clothing and is a member of the NFPA Technical Committees on Hazardous Materials/WMD Operations, Technical Committee on Tactical and Technical SCBA, and others.  Dr. Baxter is also a member of the Interagency Board, the IAFC Hazmat Committee, and the IAFF’s Hazmat Advisory Board. 

Nick Spence is the Standards Manager for the National Ambulance Resilience Unit (NARU) which works nationally on behalf of each NHS Ambulance Trust in England to provide a coordinated approach to complex or major incidents.

This includes NHS Ambulance Command & Control, Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART), Mass Casualties response and the Special Operations Response Teams (SORT) who provide a CBRN clinical decontamination and a Marauding Terrorist Firearms Attack capability.

Employed within the ambulance service since 1994, he is a paramedic who has held a wide range of operational and management roles within HART, Air Operations and Emergency Planning, Response & Resilience.

In addition, he has previously worked for the UN WHO program to deliver CBRN training to Syrian healthcare professionals and has spent many years as part of an international USAR response team where he attended disasters around the world such as earthquakes.

As part of the NARU national on-call cadre, he was actively involved in coordination of national resources to support the NHS ambulance response to the 2018 Salisbury incidents.

Michael “Casey” Collins is the former Deputy to the Commander of Joint Task Force Civil Support (JTF-CS), headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia. When directed, JTF-CS conducts chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) response operations after a CBRN incident; JTF-CS also conducts all-hazards defense support of civil authorities (DSCA) in support of the Lead Federal Agency.  JTF-CS’ mission is to save lives, prevent further injury, and provide temporary critical support to enable community recovery. During his tenure at JTF-CS, Collins led the planning effort for a number of critical projects including U.S. CBRN and medical support for the 2010 Canadian Winter Olympics; furthermore he participated in the response efforts in New York and New Jersey for Super Storm Sandy in 2012 and the COVID-19 Response Mission, which included medical support across 26 states as well as Vaccination Operations spanning 17 states. Most recently Collins and JTF-CS participated in response operations in North Carolina after the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene. Previously, Collins served in the U.S. Navy for 29 years, retiring at the rank of Captain. Notable assignments included squadron command of the VAQ-140 Patriots and VAQ-129 Vikings as well as command of Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads.

Jenq-Renn Chen is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST), Taiwan. Previously, he has held the position as Chairman of the Department, Dean of College of Engineering, and Vice President. He is also in charge of the Taiwan Ministry of Environment Southern Emergency Response Team, which provided emergency response service to southern Taiwan since 2001. He received MSc and PhD from Imperial College, London, UK, both in Chemical Engineering. He has authored more than 60 referred papers and patents. He also participated in more than 200 hazardous chemical and gas emergency responses and incident investigations in Taiwan, including the catastrophic Kaohsiung pipeline leak and explosion in 2014. His current research focuses on safety of specialty materials used in semiconductor manufacturing processes.

Lt. Col. Kildal assumed the position commandant in May 2023, after six years as a civilian.  During which he lead operational Covid-19 work in one of largest municipalities in Norway. He had also been section head Emergency preparedness and response section at The Directorate for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety. Where he also held the position as chief of staff for the Crisis Committee for Nuclear Preparedness. 

He has a bachelor in nursing, a master in public administration, Officer Candidate School, the Norwegian Military Academy and several master modules from The Norwegian Defence Command and Staff College. 

Lt. Col. Kildal has more than 20 years in the armed forces, has worked in EUs Nordic battlegroup, and was deployed to Afghanistan as part of ISAF. His military background is from Military Police, Medical Services and CBRN, and he has held positions as company commander, section head, and military assistant for the Norwegian Surgeon General.

Keith A. Drabick is the Fire Chief for the Village of East Palestine Ohio. Chief Drabick has 37 years’ experience in the Emergency Services field. Originally from rural Western Pennsylvania, he started his career in a small volunteer fire department. He began taking classes to further his career in both EMS and Fire related categories.

In the early 1990’s he obtained his EMT, ProBoard FFI & FFII along with becoming a Pennsylvania Fire Instructor. He went on to obtain his Paramedic and continued to obtain certifications in the technical rescue and haz-mat fields. He progressed his way through the ranks with experience and education to hold the position of Assistant Chief for a local fire department and Chief for a local EMS service. During his tenor as Chief, the volunteer EMS service was transitioned to a fully staffed career EMS service. He also served as a member of the PA Regional 4 EMS Strike team.