RELATED: Cuts to Springfield fire, police to be restored soon after tax passes
He described the scenario they practiced as one with different levels.
“Police pull someone over and that person died a short time later. Police went to their house found this lab. We are going to make entry and do some recon and find out what it is. That person has been transported to the hospital. Firefighters will first be going in with firefighter suits and will later determine if they need to go in with Level A suit,” Rahrle said.
Firefighters aren’t sure what’s in the simulated lab, the assistant chief said.
“A HAZMAT situation is not like a fire where you go in and knock it out real quick and move on. HAZMAT is slow and methodical,” Rahrle said. “You cross your T’s and dot your I’s.”
RELATED: Clark Co. hospital, EMS resources stretched as overdoses spike again
The 52nd Civil Support Team also participated. There are 54 other teams like it in the country. This team’s specialty is weapons of mass destruction and it covers the entire state of Ohio.
“In a real-life situation, we would call people in off-duty and we would have a bit of rotation with the civil support team,” Rahrle said. “They brought 18 members so we have sufficient manpower.”
The support team is there to assist the incident commander and doesn’t take over operations, said Maj. Tonia McCurdy of the 52nd Civil Support Team. They are usually called to the scene when fire divisions cannot identify what’s there.
“When we go down, we will go down in full level-A suits, full protection. So, in case there is a hazard, everyone is safe,” McCurdy said.
The team has decontamination and surveillance units, a survey team and a nuclear scientist.
“We have a nuclear scientist … based on the contaminants that we see. We can make presumptive identifications, try to identify what it is,” McCurdy said.
Both officials say this training is needed to keep the community safe.
“Just to keep our skills and get our hands on the equipment. Keep the relationships going between the organizations so we all know what to expect when something like this happens for real,” Rahrle said.
About the Author