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407th ECES and 332nd EMDG practice a HAZMAT drill

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joshua Edwards
  • 407th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Emergency responders from the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron and the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group came together during a hazardous material training operation Feb. 20, at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia.

After receiving a mock report, emergency responders had to locate, identify and dispose an unknown HAZMAT substance.

“Our aim is to provide joint training amongst the bioenvironmental engineers, fire department and emergency management shops that mimic a real world hazardous material response and eliminate communication and protocol issues before a real world event,” said Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Krukowski, 407th ECES Emergency Management NCO in charge of training. “In the event of an on-base incident, cooperation and mutual aid will be paramount to a successful response.”

Once on scene, emergency responders donned HAZMAT suits and began a sweep of the training area where they discovered exposed and leaking battery packs. Responders then took a sample of the material and cleaned up the area.

“I think we'll always find a few limitations we have, but I think all around we got a lot of good information out of it,” said Master Sgt. Suzanne Bell, 332nd EMDG Preventive Aerospace Medicine flight chief. “I'm confident that if we do have a HAZMAT incident at this point, we would know how to work together and figure out how to fix the problem.”