Providence Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Peter Marinucci, center, with emergency officials John Grogson, of North Providence, and David Kurowski, of Warwick.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

PROVIDENCE — Two respirators. A resuscitator mask. One hundred tablets of doxycycline and 100 tablets of ciprofloxacin. Drug injectors. Medical gloves. A stethoscope.

There are 18 categories of items stuffed into the durable blue nylon-blend bags with the reflective red stripes that were handed out to nine fire departments in a ceremony at City Hall yesterday.

Call them antiterrorism bags. Their contents are supposed to help first responders treat themselves in the event of a terrorist attack with a deadly chemical or biological substance such as anthrax or sarin.

The 50 bags and their contents were procured by the City of Providence Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security for the Metropolitan Medical Response System, in which nine municipalities participate.

They will be kept in the front-line rescue trucks of Providence, East Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, North Providence, Johnston, Cranston, Warwick and West Warwick.

“Local police and fire departments are our first responders and, therefore, must have the resources to do their work effectively and safely,” Mayor David N. Cicilline said.

In a mass-casualty event such as a manmade or natural disaster, there are other local and regional stockpiles of pharmaceuticals and other supplies that can be accessed to treat the general population, according to Peter Gaynor, director of the Providence emergency agency.

The Metropolitan Medical Response System based in Providence is one of a number of such regional arrangements around the country fostered by the federal government after two incidents of terrorism: the sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995, and the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.

In 2002, the City of Provi-dence agreed to be the lead agency for its region. The city has received or been pledged more than $1 million by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to set up and implement the system: to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks.

Among previous expenditures, for example, the city bought 32 radios for installation in rescue trucks in the nine municipalities to ensure problem-free cross-border communication.

In addition to the bags, Gaynor handed out freshly bound copies of an updated plan for the system.

Dr. Kenneth Williams, medical director for emergency medical services at Rhode Island Hospital, who is an adviser to the system, also stopped by to pick up a plan and a bag for a special medical evacuation ambulance that is housed at the hospital as part of the system.

gsmith@projo.com