CBIRF'S TECH RESCUE GOES TO VIRGINIA BEACH

Photo By Staff Sgt. Maverick Mejiacabrera | NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY INDIAN HEAD, Md. – Cpl. Jeffrey A. Moultrie, rescue specialist, and Staff Sgt. Tyler W. Jennings, rescue officer, both with Technical Rescue Platoon, Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, CBIRF, US Marine Corps Forces Command, performed a confined space rescue aboard the USS Wisconsin, a US Navy battleship, during the Rescue Challenge 2017 at Virginia Beach, Va. May 1, 2017. CBIRF’s Technical Rescue Platoon participated in the annual Rescue Challenge organized by the Technical Rescue Association of Virginia, the Rescue Challenge is a high level multi-discipline training event where more than 10 rescue teams participate in 8 different scenarios throughout a 4 day period. (Official USMC Photos by Cpl. Maverick Mejia/RELEASED)  

VIRGINIA BEACH , VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

05.04.2017

Story by Cpl. Maverick Mejiacabrera 

Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF)

Marines and Sailors with Technical Rescue Platoon, Tech Rescue, Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, CBIRF, US Marine Corps Forces Command, participated in the 2017 annual Rescue Challenge, RQC, organized by the Technical Rescue Association of Virginia in Virginia Beach, Va., May 1-4.
Tech Rescue, Marines and Sailors participated in eight different scenarios throughout a four day period. All eight scenarios based on different multi-discipline urban search and rescue specialties.
“The Rescue Challenge was a great experience,” said Warrant Officer David L. Rodriguez, emergency services officer for Technical Rescue Platoon, “It placed our Marines and Sailors in in difficult situations they have never been exposed before; they had to come up with a plan based on their skills and not on previous trained scenarios.”
Tech Rescue was one of ten teams composed of local Virginia strike teams as well as Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, Task Forces who participated in this year’s RQC.
Some of the RQC scenarios included a confine space rescue aboard the USS Wisconsin, a US Navy battleship, more than six decks below the main floor of the ship, a trench rescue accident due to a large piping excavation, and a rope rescue to save a victim trap inside an aircraft roughly about 40 feet up in the air and a victim trapped in the trees after parachuting.
“Some of the venues were more challenging than others,” said Rodriguez. “Some of the challenges were more difficult for our guys than others because they haven’t been exposed to or train for this type of scenarios before.”
The RQC mission to provide a more realistic, more advance training to constantly prepare for the worst scenarios via a natural disaster, accidents, and/or terrorist attack, helps in the effort to train the Tech Rescue Marines and Sailors by putting them out of their comfort zone and expose them to new challenges in real world venues said Rodriguez.
Tech Rescue is part one of six specialties that makes Reaction Force Company along with Headquarters and Service Company to form CBIRF which is constantly on the alert, when directed to forward-deploy and/or respond with minimal warning to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) threat or event in order to assist local, state, or federal agencies and the geographic combatant commanders in the conduct of CBRNE response or consequence management operations, providing capabilities for command and control; agent detection and identification; search, rescue, explosive ordnance disorder, decontamination; and emergency medical care for contaminated personnel.
Tech Rescue’s participation in the RQC helps our Marines and Sailors better prepare and further help CBIRF’s mission to be the most ready, when the nation is least ready, said Rodriguez

• Date Taken: 05.04.2017
• Date Posted: 05.24.2017 15:51
• Story ID: 235082
• Location: VIRGINIA BEACH , VIRGINIA, US