Photo By Spc. Bradley Wancour | Soldiers from the 11th Engineer Battalion from Fort Benning, Ga., decontaminate a...... read more read more
MUSCATATUCK URBAN TRAINING CENTER, Indiana – Soldiers from various units from Fort Hood and Fort Benning perform 24-hour operations in response to a simulated nuclear blast in the American Midwest during Vibrant Response 13-2 here, Aug 13.
Soldiers from the 44th Chemical Company and 546th Area Support Medical Company from Fort Hood, Texas, and the 11th Engineer Battalion from Fort Benning, Ga. worked together to support the community after the simulated nuclear explosion.
Vibrant Response, a major field training exercise, is conducted by U.S. Northern Command and led by USARNORTH.
Approximately 5,700 service members and civilians from the military and other local, state and federal agencies are training to respond to a catastrophic domestic incident. As a component of U.S. Northern Command, USARNORTH, coordinates timely federal military response to disasters in the homeland to help the American people in time of need.
“The first step [after the decontamination site is up and running] is to go out and survey the area for hazards such as biological, radiological or chemical contamination,” said Luis Mercado, an observer controller/trainer with U.S. Army North (Fifth Army), and Puerto Rico native now living in San Antonio, Texas.
After the soldiers scan the area, they report back with the locations of any “hot zones” or areas with high radiation, chemical or biological contamination.
“After the recon guys give their report on the situation, the search and rescue teams can go out and start to help with the injured people,” said Mercado. “We have a lot of mannequins in the area surrounding this parking garage, each with various levels of injury.”
The rescue teams begin by transferring the simulated casualties onto litters and returning them to the decontamination lane.
“First they start with the most easily accessible people, which are the ones we have outside the garage,” said Mercado. “Once they go through the decontamination lane, their injuries can be treated by the medical unit.”
After the injured civilians outside the structure are returned to the decontamination line, the soldiers begin the real work.
“Once they get all the people outside, they will have to enter the structure to search for more survivors,” Mercado explained. “Since the structure has been built do simulate a collapse, they will have to cut their way in.”
This forced entry involves breaking through the concrete and cutting the steel reinforcing bars embedded therein.
“This is why the mannequins are great, we can put them into and under the rubble, so the rescue teams have to pull them out before removing them from the area,” Mercado said.
There are limitations to using mannequins as simulated casualties, as Sgt. William Pedigo, displaced civilian manager, 1221st Transportation Company, a National Guard unit out of Dexter Miss, explains.
“There are no feelings with a mannequin,” said Pedigo. “You go through the motions treating it, so it’s easy to get complacent.”
To rectify this, real people role-playing civilians will also be in the area and will need decontamination and treatment.
“We have 50 displaced civilians, who we will trickle into the area for the soldiers to treat,” said Pedigo.
The St. Louis native explains what role-players can bring to the training event mannequins cannot.
“The civilians add the real-life component that gives the soldiers the true sense of what they are doing,” Pedigo explains.
While it is easy to treat and move an immobile mannequin, getting an injured, scared person to cooperate may not be as simple.
“You can act however you want to with a lifeless mannequin, but if you have an elderly lady saying she is too scared to move, you have to think and communicate with this person,” said Pedigo.
In addition to giving a better sense of the reality of the situation, the real-life people give the OC/Ts a better understanding of how a soldier or unit will respond when faced with a disaster.
“It gives the OC/Ts in charge a real sense of how that soldier or that unit can deal with a real-life situation,” said Pedigo.
| Date Taken: | 08.13.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.16.2013 18:02 |
| Story ID: | 112134 |
| Location: | IN, US |
| Web Views: | 188 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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