332D AIR EXPEDITIONARY WING -- The 332d Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron’s Fire and Emergency Management team exercised their hazardous material emergency preparedness during a HAZMAT training event at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia March 24, 2022.
This training, a Department of Defense-level HAZMAT certification requirement for 15 Fire Department Airmen, also served as an annual refresher training for the EM flight. The Airmen were instructed to contain leaks on various containers, all after donning a Level-A total encapsulated HAZMAT suit.
HAZMAT suits are barriers made of plastic, cloth, and rubber, as well as a separate supply of oxygen. They safeguard Airmen by isolating them from potentially harmful settings. A HAZMAT suit provides full-body protection including the face.
Firefighters are required to conduct hazardous material incident training annually at the operations and technician level Tech. Sgt. Joseph Cappel, 332d ECES assistant chief of training, explained.