Emergency Management, more than just CBRNE training

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jaimi L. Upthegrove
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE Fla. --  The 482nd Civil Engineering Squadron's Emergency Management Flight at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., conducted their annually required hazardous materials exercise here Feb. 8., with help from the Homestead ARB Fire Department.

The EM flight does not provide HAZMAT services for Homestead ARB, but they perform this mission when deployed so they have to maintain readiness through exercises.

"This training is purely to become familiar with the equipment and the procedure because if someone doesn't know what they're doing they could get seriously injured or killed," said Master Sgt. Jeff LaFreniere, non-commissioned officer in charge of the Emergency Management flight here.

When deployed, members of the EM flight respond to HAZMAT calls. They suit up and then the training kicks in.

"It's a burden on the wearer to be in this suit, it drops your IQ, your vision narrows, you're uncomfortably hot, movements are restricted, you have a harness and gear strapped to you, it's hard to focus," said LaFreniere. "You have to get comfortable wearing the gear so you can put it out of your mind and focus on the issue at hand."

Holding this exercise annually not only helps the members remain comfortable wearing the suits, it also helps each team and their leaders learn.

"No matter how simple you think a situation is there's always an opportunity to learn from it, and it may be more complicated than you originally thought," said LaFreniere.

During this exercise the EM flight responded to a scenario where a forklift team punctured one barrel, knocked over another, and then fled the scene. A fire started when the liquids combined, but the fire department was able to put it out with water. That was all the information the teams were given.

"We took away the go-to materials in this scenario and forced them to think and get creative. I saw a different way to solve the issues from each team," said LaFreniere. "It helps the members broaden their horizons, or expand their toolbox, seeing how others solved the same issue."

Each of the three teams found a unique, but effective, way to solve the multiple problems presented by the scenario.

"This is our wartime mission, we do the exercises and at any time the commander can look at our report and say you guys are ready, time to deploy," said Chief Master Sgt. David Hanck, EM Flight chief here. "We practice so we can learn and not make mistakes when it really matters."

Training and exercises, such as this, are what make citizen Airmen ready when the time comes to deploy.