Photo By Senior Airman Evelyn D'Errico | U.S. Airmen assigned to the 39th Medical Group take notes during the patient decontamination training at the medical treatment facility's internal courtyard at Incirlik Air Base, Türkiye, Aug. 5, 2026. The course combined classroom instruction with hands-on scenarios, guiding participants through receiving, stabilizing, decontaminating and transferring patients while protecting medical infrastructure from secondary contamination. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Evelyn J. D’Errico) see less
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Medical personnel from the 39th Medical Group completed a three-day patient decontamination course at Incirlik Air Base Wing, Türkiye, Aug. 4-6, 2026, strengthening the wing’s ability to respond to chemical, biological radiological or nuclear incidents and sustain operations in contested environments.
Decontamination is the physical or chemical process of removing, reducing or neutralizing hazardous substances, such as CBRN, from a patient. Its main goals are to stop further harm to the victims and protect medical staff and responders from secondary contamination.
This training prepares medical personnel to handle decontaminations during emergencies and providing Medical Warm-Zone training for 15 Airmen across five medical career fields.
In emergency medical and disaster response services, a warm zone, or contamination reduction area, is a transitional buffer between a high-contamination hot zone and a completely safe cold zone; used for triage, rapid treatment and decontamination.
“This course is important because it educates Air Force medical first receivers on life-saving skills and ensures we are prepared for anything,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Camilla Shakespear, 39th MDG physical evaluation board liaison officer. “We are required to triage, initiate field treatment, decontaminate and save victims from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or hazardous materials.”
Over the three days, members practiced techniques and procedures for decontaminating and treating patients, prepared a decontamination center and certified the donning of CBRN gear properly.
The course also emphasized adaptability under pressure. Participants rotated through multiple roles, including decontamination teams, manpower and triage, ensuring operations could continue even if personnel became unavailable during a real-world response.
“Using training days to practice for every scenario is how we are getting after the command priority of ‘Always Ready’,” said Shakespear. “We are ensuring that our medics are always ready to perform when duty calls.”
Training events like this help the 39th MDG identify improvement areas, bolster mission readiness and equip Airmen with the skills and confidence needed to effectively respond to potential chemical attacks.
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