A Soldier from the 637th
Chemical Company, Ohio National Guard, escorts a casualty to a
decontamination lane June 6 during a multi-agency disaster
exercise in Ross County. The 637th is the decontamination
element of the Ohio National Guard’s Chemical, Biological,
Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive (CBRNE) Enhanced
Response Force Package (CERFP).
Soldiers from the 637th
Chemical Company, Ohio National Guard, set up a decontamination
station June 6 at McArthur Elementary School in Ross County
during a multi-agency disaster preparedness exercise. The 637th
is the decontamination element of the Ohio National Guard’s
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield
Explosive (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP).
Capt. Tonia McCurdy,
commander of the 637th Chemical Company, demonstrates how a
non-ambulatory casualty would be moved through the
decontamination process during a June 6 multi-agency disaster
preparedness exercise in Ross County. The 637th is the
decontamination element of the Ohio National Guard’s Chemical,
Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive (CBRNE)
Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP). |
|
Story and photos by Spc. Brian
Johnson, Unit Public Affairs Representative
Ohio National Guard CERFP
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio—In the early morning hours of June 6,
Chillicothe area law enforcement officers executed a raid on
a local methamphetamine lab. During the raid, a cloud of unknown
toxic chemicals was released into the air.
“The cloud of chemicals quickly spread through the air causing
contamination to be spread to the neighborhood around the house
and neighbors to experience unknown symptoms that needed
immediate treatment,” said Dave Bethel, director of the Ross
County Emergency Management Agency. “Due to the proximity of the
meth house to the Glatfelter plant, many of the plant workers
also became contaminated and started to experience unknown
symptoms that needed immediate treatment.”
The scenario was the basis for a mock disaster drill at McArthur
Elementary School involving multiple agencies including the Ohio
National Guard.
During the exercise, all individuals requiring medical attention
were transported to Adena Regional Medical Center with
additional assistance provided by the Ross County EMA. The
situation become such that the Ross County officials requested
additional assistance from the Ohio EMA who in turn, activated
the Ohio National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological,
Nuclear and high-yield Explosive (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force
Package (CERFP) for assistance.
Additional agencies involved in the exercise included the
Chillicothe Fire Department, Ross County Health Department, and
the local Red Cross.
The Ohio National Guard CERFP provides response capabilities to
search damaged buildings, evacuate areas and structures that may
be in a danger zone, rescue trapped casualties, decontaminate
personnel and perform medical triage. The CERFP is the first
level of relief for civilian first responders. The
Kettering-based 637th Chemical Company provides the
decontamination element of the CERFP.
“This was our first time ever doing an exercise like this in a
civilian area,” said Lt. Col. Scott Smith, CERFP commander. “It
was a new experience for us. It was very exciting to integrate
all of the local agencies like this. This has given us a chance
to reach out to the local community and meet people and let them
know what we are about. An exercise like this also gets a chance
to see what we can do to be even better.”
Chillicothe Fire Chief Bruce Vaughn arrived on site to take over
command of the exercise from the Ross County EMA. Vaughn said
the exercise went well.
“I was briefed immediately about the situation,” Vaughn said. “I
asked the military members on site to keep me updated, and they
always made sure that I had all of the information that I
needed.”
Vaughn, who acted as incident commander, said the role made him
a little nervous at first because it was his first time working
with the military.
“By the end of it, I was extremely comfortable with them,” he
said. “They took very good care of me. This was an extremely
successful exercise.”
Capt. Tonia McCurdy, 637th Chemical Company commander, said her
unit was successful in meeting its two main goals for the
scenario.
“We were able to get the casualties out and decontaminate them
in a timely manner,” McCurdy said. “This exercise is also good
for us because we are always receiving new Soldiers that are not
familiar with how things are run in the CERFP. It helps us to
ensure that we are always ready and never lapse in mission
preparedness.”
Sgt. 1st Class David Nickerson of New Lebanon is responsible for
making sure all areas are coordinated and running smoothly.
“The standard for us to be ready in a real-world situation is 90
minutes. Today, we were ready in 49 minutes,” he said. “As in a
real-world situation, the health department had to give their
approval to commence. Once that was done, we were still ready
with 20 minutes to spare. The Soldiers today were exceptional.”
Pfc. Tracey Roth of Dayton said the leadership of the veteran
CERFP Soldiers was key to mission success.
“We had many new people who had not seen the equipment before,”
Roth said. “To accomplish what we did during the course of the
exercise was not expected.”
Nickerson said the Soldiers’ goal was to set up their stations
in record time and complete the task with no casualties.
“There were no complaints and no problems,” Nickerson said.
“Today there were just 62 Soldiers working together as one team
and one family.”
The Adena Regional Medical Center received the “victims” at
McArthur School, then transported them to the hospital’s south
parking lot via ambulance or bus, where hospital staff conducted
decontamination and triage.
Bob Newland, EMA liaison from Adena Regional Medical Center,
said the disaster drill was the first of its kind in Ross
County.
“It served as a great opportunity to work with a number of
organizations within the community that would be a vital part of
a disaster-type recovery event,” Newland said. “Having the
National Guard involved was invaluable and greatly appreciated
by all who participated—the drill was a wonderful learning
experience and staff were able to gain a great deal of knowledge
and feedback from the Guard that will certainly be a benefit in
future drills and disaster events.”
Ross County Sheriff Ron Nichols said the exercise allowed the
agencies involved to see the resources the others can bring to a
disaster response situation.
“This also gave us a good opportunity to practice coordinating
all of those resources together to see how everything would work
out,” he said.
Chillicothe Schools Superintendent Roger Crago donated the use
of McArthur Elementary School for the exercise. Goodwill donated
the clothes that the casualties wore for the exercise. |
