Photo By Jenny Gordon | Over 300 items are included in the Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight's repurposed...... read more read more
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ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – The 78th Aerospace Medicine Squadron now has a mobile capability to respond to potentially hazardous situations among its arsenal.
The Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight has acquired a re-purposed trailer, equipped with a variety of emergency response capabilities.
Several hundred items include things like chemical, biological and radiological detection equipment and personal protective equipment such as chemical resistant suits, respirator masks and self-contained breathing apparatuses.
While the trailer was in operation years ago, the advantages of its return can be validated in minutes.
“It significantly decreases our on-scene response time, which increases the likelihood of identifying hazards quickly and protecting potential responders and the surrounding population,” said Maj. Michael Salyer, the Flight’s Operations officer.
“This is part of our contingency mission,” he added. “It helps us ensure we’re outfitted to provide an immediate response, and that we have to have enough equipment to operate for a minimum of 24 hours,” he added.
It’s a one-stop shop of sorts should the call ever come, which is has in recent months. It was on the scene during the recent Thunder Over Georgia Air Show.
When a mid-air collision involving F-16s happened this past June over Jefferson County, Georgia, teams from Robins converged on the site offering immediate assistance.
Among them were members of the bioenvironmental team, assuring the environment was safe for Airmen to recover the wreckage, and recommending forms of PPE to safely perform their duties.
“During that time Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight responders were advising the incident commander on various safety and health requirements for anyone going on scene,” said Salyer. “Flight personnel performed such duties as initial exposure characterizations, identifying various F-16 hazards, and identifying the protective equipment needed for site recovery personnel.
“Having the response trailer back at full operational capability enhances our ability to respond to similar situations in the future,” he added.
The flight assumes day-to-day responsibilities for occupational and environmental health for the installation, to include identifying and characterizing workplace chemical hazards, and ensuring workers are free from harmful exposure.
| Date Taken: | 10.21.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 11.07.2016 15:11 |
| Story ID: | 212602 |
| Location: | ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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