Photo By John Hughel | Oregon Air National Guard Master Sgt. Jessica Caldwell (right) and Tech. Sgt. Carson...... read more read more
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WARRENTON, Oregon – A select group of Soldiers and Airmen of the Oregon National Guard participated in the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Responder Operations Course as part of the CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) initiative May 17-20, 2019 at Camp Rilea in Warrenton, Oregon.
Students attending the course learned the basics of how to analyze a hazardous material incident, plan for emergency response, and implement action toward the alleviation of a human-caused or natural disaster involving toxic materials.
“The purpose of this training is for the participants to become part of a CERFP team,” said Sgt. 1st Class James Knight Jr., the noncommissioned officer in charge of the course. “We want them to use these skills to go and perform the function of protecting people, property, and equipment.”
The students, most of whom specialized in search and extraction and fatality search and recovery operations, were also trained to be able to integrate into a disaster response scenario lead by civilians.
“For example, if there were an incident in downtown Portland, the state would have assets that can augment forces like fire departments, police departments, and hospitals,” said Knight. “No matter the scenario, these soldiers will be trained to the same civilian standards so that they can incorporate seamlessly into the incident command system.”
Attendees also expanded their knowledge on hazardous material markings, labels, containers, and packaging and well as the chemical and physical properties of substances they could potentially encounter.
“I believe this training will help me take the initiative when coming into contact with hazardous situations,” said Pfc. Elizabeth Aldama Gandara of the 1186th Military Police Company. “I know that not a lot of people are willing to do this because it takes extra time, but it is important to me to be able to help people.”
The 36-hour course included classroom time coupled with a practical portion where students will become more familiar with donning and operating personal protective equipment.
“The instructors are really good at involving us, keeping us on our toes, and asking questions of us,” said Master Sgt. Jessica Caldwell, one of the NCOICs for the Fatality Search and Recovery Team, assigned to the 142nd Fighter Wing. “The material is great, but the networking and exposure to how other teams do things are also very valuable.”
The student’s ultimate goal in the course is to achieve an accredited hazardous material operations certificate with the basic knowledge to support and sustain fellow first responders.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 06.10.2019 15:47 |
| Story ID: | 326482 |
| Location: | WARRENTON, OREGON, US |
| Web Views: | 149 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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