Photo By Staff Sgt. Christopher Moore | View of one of the simulated biohazard laboratories at the Glendale Regional Public...... read more read more
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GLENDALE, Ariz. - National Guard civil support teams, local fire fighter decontamination units, and police special weapons and tactics teams put their skills to the test Nov. 4 at the Glendale Regional Public Safety Transportation Center.
Master Sgt. Joseph I. Parker, a civil support team member with the 85th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team said, “A success for us during Vigilant Guard would be improving upon coming on scene and helping the on-scene commander assess what kind of a chemical or hazardous material we are dealing with.”
Vigilant Guard is an exercise that puts those skills of inter-agency communication and cooperation to the test during a crisis or disaster. Something as little as being able to talk to another agency was impossible when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, said Parker.
“I think that disasters like Katrina helped realize that a standard is needed across the board for state and federal agencies to be able to talk to each other or to first responders,” said Parker.
The structures that the teams had to navigate consisted of real world environments provided by the GRPSTC. Multi-level structures with trick doors, fog filled laboratories, and simulated explosive making areas in kitchens were all rooms that the teams searched and cleared.
“The problems we run into more times than not are technical ones, communication systems fail and detection equipment doesn’t function like we need it to,” said Parker. “We need to adapt and overcome. We rely on our experience and expertise to solve these issues,” he said.
This training, that more than 250 agencies are partaking in, is helping them work together and eliminate the problems that were there for military and civilian agencies during times of crisis.
“I think that we are on the right track, I think we are finally seeing the vision of standardization and I’m proud to be a part of that and will continue to be a part of,” said Parker.
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 11.04.2011 15:22 |
| Story ID: | 79581 |
| Location: | GLENDALE, AZ, US |
| Web Views: | 104 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Arizona Guard hosts training at Glendale Training Center, by SFC Adrian Borunda, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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