The dynamics of terrorism indicate that a quantitative decline in terrorist attacks recorded since 2013 does not prove the effectiveness of the methods used under the global war on terrorism. It should also be emphasized that even though CBRN terrorism is a relatively rare phenomenon, terrorist groups that decide to use this type of means do not have to engage their resources, but rather merely focus their efforts on acquisition through armed attack or on the disruption of infrastructure responsible for the transport, acquisition, and protection of resources that may be a substitute for weapons of mass destruction. Nevertheless, CBNR incidents may occur.
Recommendations for CBRN policies indicate the importance of the actions such as ensuring a more robust preparedness for and response to CBRN security incidents, building stronger internal–external links, as well as the engagement of key regional and international EU partners to strengthen CBRN security [1]. It seems that CBRN defence training can be an effective instrument to help realize these recommendations. Apart from first responders (FR), who are the main recipients of the training, other groups can be particularly interested in it; these are healthcare professionals, decision-makers (responsible for procedures), and even volunteers who support FRs in a crisis management situation. In a dynamic and unstable environment, joint training activities based on up-to-date scenarios are necessary; they can be performed in flexible multi-user immersive virtual reality systems that can meet the requirements of different stakeholders and also provide an opportunity to “rehearse the future” [2].
[1] O. Vybornova, K. Van Heuverswyn, G. Dusserre, A. Schultz, M. Kiehl, V. R. Quante, M. Carestia, D.Di Giovanni, D4.8 eNOTICE Recommendations for CBRN R&D and CBRN policies. Version 1, eNOTICE European Network Of CBRN TraIning Centres, 2018, https://www.h2020-enotice.eu/documents/eNOTICE-WP4-UCL-D4.9-Recommendations%20for%20CBRN%20RD%20and%20CBRN%20policies.pdf
[2] P. Maciejewski, M. Gawlik-Kobylińska, J. Lebiedź, W. Ostant, and D. Aydın, “To Survive in a CBRN Hostile Environment: Application of CAVE Automatic Virtual Environments in First Responder Training,” presented at the Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Applications of Intelligent Systems, 2020.