Who You Gonna Call

Photo By Spc. Marilyn Spencer | Sgt. Estaban Peralta, survey team member with the 95th Civil Support Team, Hayward, Calif., decontaminates role-player Samantha Kroepelin, an 8th grader at Paradise Adventist Academy, Paradise, Calif., during a combined training exercise in response to bioterrorist attack, April 21.  

PARADISE, CALIF., UNITED STATES

05.02.2010

Story by Spc. James Wilton 

69th Public Affairs Detachment

PARADISE, Calif. – An Army uniform brings to mind men and women fighting wars and protecting the country from enemies in distant countries. Protecting Americans at home while deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or other foreign nations, may be an important role that the U.S. Army plays, but it is not the only one, especially when that Soldier is a member of the National Guard. One of the roles of a unique California National Guard unit out of Hayward is to train and support local authorities in their response to natural or man-made disasters that threaten the state. Hospital and Emergency Response personnel in Paradise, Calif. got to experience this first hand, April 21, when they met the 95th Civil Support Team.

In a mock chemical attack on Paradise Adventist Academy, a kindergarten through high school facility, a fictional extremist group dispersed fake smoke bombs into a building occupied by approximately 30 students. First Responders were called in, to include hazardous materials specialists from the Paradise Fire and Public Works Departments, local police, and ambulance services, some from the nearby town of Oroville. The 95th CST played their critical role by supporting the efforts with their decontamination team, who are trained to deal with nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attacks.

"The fire department was called and then the incident commander called us to support because from the report we received, they knew that it was going to be a large incident, which would tax their response team's size and ability," said Lt. Col. Greg Potter, 95th CST commander. "Part of the 95th's mission is to help local first responders when their resources or man-power are inadequate to handle a situation."

The men and women in uniform then set up decontamination stations and administered triage to the role-players on scene. The ambulance services transported the "injured" to surrounding area hospitals also being tested in the scenario. The Feather River Hospital in Paradise, Enloe Hospital in Chico and the Oroville Hospital medical staff set-up their own decontamination and triage centers for the drill. Overall, this entire scenario was used as a training tool for the various agencies and hospitals to familiarize their staff with equipment and procedures, along with working together in case such an incident ever occurs.

"This exercise is a multiple agency response effort designed to familiarize our various departments with the unified incident command system and I feel it has bettered our readiness and ability to respond effectively, if a similar disaster occurred in our area," said Joanna Guttierez, Public Information Officer for the City of Paradise.

The event was designed and directed by the CST in conjunction with the Feather River Hospital's Pre-Hospital Care Coordinator Wendy VanCott. VanCott saw the CST in action during a similar training mission a year ago in Marysville, Calif. and felt that her community could also benefit from the training and expertise of the Guardsmen. The command group of the CST and VanCott then drafted a training exercise and contacted the local agencies and the school to put their plan into action.

According to Potter, the Feather River Hospital wanted to run its decontamination station through its paces and test if it would hold up in a real world situation. So the CST was more than happy to assist by putting on a training seminar.

The 95th's ability to work along side local area agencies makes them unique. There are two CST units in California, the other being the 9th CST in Los Angeles. The Hayward unit is staffed with 22 Army and Air National Guardsmen who specialize in seven functional areas; command, operations, communications, decontamination/logistics, medical, science and survey. They are on operational status 24-hours a day, seven days a week, which enables them to rapidly respond to any incident in Northern California. This unit is a prime example of the National Guard's mission, which stretches far beyond the title of just a national protector.

"Without the guidance, support, knowledge and resources of the National Guard, I don't feel that the exercise would have gone as well as it did," said VanCott. "The Guard has played such an active role in this scenario. Before today, I doubt most people even realized that the National Guard did such things. I know I didn't."

• Date Taken: 05.02.2010
• Date Posted: 05.02.2010 20:25
• Story ID: 49014
• Location: PARADISE, CALIF., US