PORTLAND, Ore. – The Oregon National Guard's 102nd CBRN, or Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Defense Enhanced Response Force Package, also known as CERFP, participated in two recent regional training exercises focused on chemical leaks, aimed at boosting preparedness and teamwork among federal and local agencies during mass-casualty emergencies.
The first exercise scenario occurred Feb. 26. The 102nd Civil Support Team responded after the Clackamas Fire Department reported a forklift accident involving a tank of anhydrous ammonia in Clackamas, Oregon. The Civil Support Team notified the Oregon Army National Guard chain of command and the 102nd CERFP of the need for additional support.
On March 4, CERFP team members assisted with decontamination procedures at Portland Providence Medical Center after a tanker truck accident on Interstate 84 that spilled 7,000 gallons of concentrated sulfuric acid onto the roadway.
“It was important to collaborate with other agencies regarding plume monitoring and to allow all our agencies to work together on a designated air monitoring exercise,” said Lynsey Amundson, the public information officer for the Clackamas Fire Department.
One of the challenges was maintaining communication across multiple agencies, both on the ground and via radio channels. Amundson said that this exercise quickly highlighted this issue.
“Getting on the same radio channels took some effort initially, but we had our radio technician there to help connect everyone to one channel so they could talk to each other to mitigate the leak,” Amundson said.
Another goal was to avoid “pre-staging’ the exercise with each participating agency. This assessed the use of the chain of command, response times and the effectiveness of each agency in using its equipment during response development.
“Demonstrating the importance of the air monitors in this exercise for the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and the National Guard team was essential for validating how their findings aligned, as they were using real-world data,” said Morgan West, community resilience officer for the Clackamas Fire Department. “The monitors were collecting ‘zeroes’ while taking air samples every few seconds in real-time during the training period, and having this information up to date allows the incident commander to make critical decisions.”
As the firefighters suited up to ‘plug the leak,’ Clackamas Fire also launched an aerial drone over the site to monitor the response during the exercise. While each agency worked on the response timeline, the Oregon Guardsmen arrived and started setting up their rapid-deploy decontamination stations. With many moving parts, the training helped each agency understand the roles of other partners in the effort.
"We’re a bit jealous of the CERPF’s air monitoring equipment," West said. "They have some new gear we’d love to have, but it’s good to know what they can bring when there’s an incident."
The next week at Providence Medical Center, the CERFP team kicked off training with a hands-on session with decontamination equipment and procedures for almost 50 staff members. Sgt. Aaron Stiner explained each step of putting on a chemical suit as Spc. Daniella Terawaki demonstrated. Staff also asked about the best ways to stay safe while wearing the suit and to avoid cross-contamination.
One question sparked a discussion regarding how long someone could remain in the chemical suit, given the temperature and humidity.
“The time can vary based on conditions, so we look at the wet bulb temperature for wearing a chemical protective suit because it can add up to 15-20 degrees to the external temperature,” Stiner explained. “Factoring in humidity, this would reduce the time considerably. That’s why you have to check on each other’s vital signs more often when it’s hotter and muggier conditions.”
When the 90-minute class ended, the group headed toward an emergency entrance reserved for mass casualty situations. Three teams rotated through their stations. The first crew suited up in chemical protective gear while the others alternated between a decontamination site adjacent to the emergency room and a portable station set up outside.
Working with inflatable mannequins, Stiner and Carrie Guerry, the night charge nurse at Providence Medical Center, demonstrated how to remove contaminated clothing while collecting personal items for each patient at the outdoor portable station. Having taken two separate hands-on Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, courses at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama, Guerry was one of the event organizers.
“The FEMA incident management and casualty response procedures are part of this exercise. It’s allowing us to work on the same page with the National Guard today or other agencies that we would be working with,” she said, while coaching staff at the decontamination site.
At the conclusion of the exercise, participants gathered to share feedback and gauge the training's temperature.
“When everyone can relax and not have this expectation of ‘is this right or wrong way to do it,’ that’s the best way to learn because ultimately you have to be able to adapt to each situation with flexibility,” Stiner said, noting how the day's training impacted both teams.