Air Force to assess water contamination risk at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base

Photo By 1st Lt. Andrew B Layton | The Air Force will conduct environmental sampling at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base in mid-April to assess the potential for drinking water contamination stemming from past firefighting activities. (Air National Guard photo by 1st Lt. Andrew Layton/released)

BATTLE CREEK, MI, UNITED STATES
04.12.2018
Story by 1st Lt. Andrew B Layton
110th Attack Wing 

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – The Air Force will conduct environmental sampling at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base in mid-April to assess the potential for drinking water contamination stemming from past firefighting activities.

The sampling is part of the Air Force’s proactive, service-wide investigation to assess potential risk to drinking water from Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfanate (PFOS), two compounds found in aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).

In 1970, the Air Force began using AFFF, which contains PFOS/PFOA. AFFF is the most efficient extinguishing method for petroleum fires and is widely used across the firefighting industry, to include all commercial airports, for protection of people and property.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a health advisory for PFOS and PFOA in 2016.

As part of the Air Force’s three-step approach — identify, respond, protect — a preliminary assessment was completed in 2015 that identified potential release areas where AFFF was used at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base. The groundwater sampling, which begins April 16th, will verify releases through groundwater, surface water, soil, and sediment sampling.

“The data and site information gathered throughout the investigation are intended to protect human health and minimize our environmental impact, both on and off the installation,” said Col. Bryan Teff, base commander. “The Air National Guard is a community-based organization, so we take our commitment to being good neighbors with the citizens of Battle Creek very seriously.”

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), working in conjunction with state and local health agencies, is already in the process of a proactive plan to sample drinking water wells around the base, according to MDEQ spokeswoman Melanie Brown.

"We want to test as a precaution, in order to determine if there is need for any further environmental investigation,” said Brown.

The Air Force’s investigation work and mitigation actions are guided by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, applicable state laws, and the EPA’s drinking water health advisory. The Air Force is moving forward aggressively in accordance with the CERCLA process to identify, define and mitigate potential contamination resulting from Air Force mission activities.

“Following the CERCLA process makes certain thorough investigative work is done,” said Teff. “The process also promotes accountability, community involvement, and long-term protection.”

The Air Force has replaced legacy firefighting foam at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base with a new, more environmentally responsible formula that contain no PFOS and only trace amounts of PFOA. Currently, fire protection services at W.K. Kellogg Airport are managed by the City of Battle Creek.

Coordination saved lives in Joint Training

U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers of the 468th Engineer Detachment (Firefighting), 368th Engineer Battalion, 302d Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command based in Danvers, Mass., respond to a multi-vehicle accident during a Joint Training Exercise hosted by the Homestead-Miami Speedway and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department in Miami, Florida. Jan. 11, 2018. This JTE focused on building response capabilities and the seamless transition between the local first responders and the follow-on support provided by the National Guard and Active Army Soldiers. (U. S. Army Reserve Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Clinton Wood)

MIAMI, FL, UNITED STATES
04.12.2018
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Clinton Wood
412th Theater Engineer Command 

HOMESTEAD, Fla., -- Coordination between the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) and Active Army and U.S. Army Reserve Command (USARC) Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) teams, including the 468th Engineer Detachment (Firefighting Headquarters), saved lives in a simulated biohazard explosion at the Homestead Speedway near here, Jan. 11, 2018.
The MDFR set up decontamination sites for itself and the Army units which allowed teams like the Detachment’s Urban Search and Rescue teams to respond to the scene even quicker.
“We can’t send rescuers into the hot-zone until that is set up so instead of having to wait until our own decontamination team set up their equipment we were able to push Soldiers out much faster,” noted Capt. Samuel Turner, commander of the detachment from Danvers, Massachusetts. “This type of coordination is the cornerstone of mutual aid. Anything we can do to support and facilitate each other ultimately supports the saving of lives.”
The Joint Training Exercise (JTE) between U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Army North, USARC, Florida National Guard and the MDFR focused on building response capabilities and the seamless transition between the local first responders and the follow-on support provided by the National Guard and Active Army Soldiers.
The Detachment of the 368th Engineer Battalion, 302d Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, and 412th Theater Engineer Command also was being evaluated by U.S. Army North Observer/Controller Trainers (OC/Ts).
Detachment safety noncommissioned officer, Sgt. Jason A. Benjamin, Sr., said the OC/Ts ensured that the 40-member plus Detachment, which has five firefighter teams, trained to standard and made on the spot corrections. This was a Quarterly Sustainment Training for the Detachment.
The Miami Dade Fire Rescue was the first to respond to the biohazard explosion in the scenario. Several sections of the bleachers were “destroyed”, there was a multi-vehicle accident near the bleachers. The latter meant that the Detachment had to wear the hazardous material protective suits and protective masks during the exercise.
“When they realized the extent of the scene, they reached out to the known Army units in the area doing training,” said Benjamin.
A Detachment reconnaissance element with several medics was the first on scene. They were greeted by role players, some bloodied, shouting that they were in pain. The element’s mission was to assess hazards and triage “victims.”
The team that relieved the reconnaissance team concentrated on the multi-vehicle accident. One car was upside down up against the end of the bleachers, a SUV was on its side next to it and a minivan was also on its side with its roof touching the rear wheel of the SUV.
Sgt. Ian Tweeddale of Everett, Mass., was the crew chief for this team (the 356th).
He said his first goal was to stabilize vehicles and ensure it was a safe working environment after learning that there were three victims in the accident.
“Then our plan of attack went from there,” said Tweeddale.
The three other teams responded to “victims” still in the bleachers and trapped in the “collapsed” bleachers.
Turner noted that all of the teams worked in the site several times throughout the day.
“Each taking over from the last in order to maintain proper rest cycles and keep our Soldiers in the fight,” said the police officer from Portland, Maine. “Keeping Soldiers in the fight,” comes down to the medics monitoring each Soldier before they enter and leave the “hot zone.”
The rest cycles are also based on wet bulb readings. Turner said in southern Florida, a 20/40 (minute) rest cycle is not uncommon. Another consideration is that the suits that only weigh about 10 pounds do not breathe well.
“(The medics) are able to identify Soldiers who may need a little more rehab or if teams as a whole require a change in the work schedule,” explained Turner.
There also were changes in the exercises like this.
Tweeddale, who has been in America’s Army Reserve for eight years and a firefighter for the last two years, remarked that he has seen several different scenarios in the training and this has helped him exercise his brain.
“It takes a lot of teamwork to get through these scenarios because they are always different,” commented the former combat engineer.
He may have summed up the exercise in the best way possible.
“We get to be the good guy on someone’s bad day so that is a lot of fun.”

Fire and Emergency Services: Ketamine vs. Fentanyl

Photo By Jack Adamyk | Carlos Torres, firefighter-paramedic, and Kevin Craven, firefighter-emergency medical technician, both with Fire and Emergency Services, demonstrate the use of a ketamine mixture for pain management on potential patients for an upcoming test trial aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., April 5.

BARSTOW, CA, UNITED STATES
04.12.2018
Story by Laurie Pearson
Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow 

Paramedics with Fire and Emergency Services are conducting a research trial using ketamine for pain relief aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif. and surrounding communities starting April 1.
“It will be used for pain control in lieu of our current medication which is Fentanyl. Fentanyl is an opioid-based narcotic, and due to the ongoing opioid crisis nationwide, emergency medical services have been faced with finding alternatives,” said Greg Kunkel, Emergency Medical Services chief with FES.
There are only three counties in California which have been accepted into this trial study: Riverside, Inland Counties Emergency Management Agency, which serves San Bernardino, Inyo and Mono counties, and Mountain Valley Emergency Management System which is in Modesto County. The trial will run for 18 months. It’s being organized by ICEMA for this area. The three agencies have been authorized by the state to conduct this study. In order to be included in the study, counties had to petition the state of California Emergency Medical Services Agency for authorization. Then ICEMA was selected as the administrator. ICEMA then sent requests for interest out to the various advanced life support fire departments for inclusion into the study.
Ketamine doesn’t have the addiction potential that Fentanyl has, which is why emergency medical services has taken a hard look Ketamine and its promising potential for pain control.
According to the Center for Disease Control:
The death rate of synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes drugs such as
tramadol and fentanyl, increased by 72.2% from 2014 to 2015.1 Synthetic opioid death
rates (other than methadone) increased across all demographics, regions, and numerous
states. These reports indicate that increases in synthetic opioid-involved deaths are being
driven by increases in fentanyl-involved overdose deaths, which are likely due to illicitly-
manufactured fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is 50-100 times more potent than morphine,” said Kunkel. “If it’s a Fentanyl analogue such as Carfentanil, it can be as much as 10,000 times stronger than morphine. This has caused overdoses across the nation to skyrocket.”
Fentanyl is a central nervous system depressant which decreases breathing, heart rate, and level of consciousness to the point of death if not aggressively treated by medical personnel.
Ketamine gets down to the pain receptors and alters pain perception, Kunkel explained. It is also completely synthetic.
“Ketamine also does not create the euphoria you get with Fentanyl, morphine or heroin,” Kunkel said. “Therefore the addiction potential is low.”
We are hoping that, after the study, that ketamine is accepted to replace fentanyl for general pain control, in the pre-hospital environment because it will prove beneficial for the patient as a safer alternative to fentanyl.
Trauma and severe burns are just two examples of when ketamine would be administered.
“They have to be 15 years of age or older,” Kunkel said. “Their pain has to be at a five or greater on a 1-10 pain scale. They may not have taken any other narcotic pain control 6 hours prior to administration of ketamine to ensure clarity for the trial.”
Fire and Emergency Services personnel not only take care of all incidents on base, but supply mutual aid to the surrounding communities, as well. Some examples are motor vehicle accidents on the local highways or broken limbs from a fall, and sports injuries.
“We responded to a motor vehicle accident a couple of days ago on highway 15,” Kunkel said, “where the victim had a broken leg, and could have benefitted from administration of ketamine.”
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Army Reserve, National Guard team up for CBRN exercise

Staff Sgt. Robert Johnson, Pvt. Lauryn Squire, Pfc. Mani Wallace, and Pfc. Cole Yates from 414th Chemical Company decontaminate a civilian role player during Guardian Response 18 at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Ind., Apr 12, 2018. Guardian Response 18 is an Army Total Force exercise where Soldiers from all three components must work together to respond effectively to a CBRN scenario. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Staff Sgt. Carolyn Hawkins)

MUSCATATUCK URBAN TRAINING CENTER, IN, UNITED STATES
04.12.2018
Story by Staff Sgt. Carolyn Hawkins
318th Press Camp Headquarters 

Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Ind. – The morning sun rose over MUTC and the windy mid-April day heated up to a sunny 77 degrees. Displaced civilian casualty role players came in from various search and rescue exercises across the area of operation. Army Reserve and Army National Guard combat medics and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialists triaged displaced civilian casualty role players at the mass casualty decontamination site during a CBRN training scenario Thursday for Guardian Response 18.
Guardian Response 18 is a multi-component training exercise in which all three Army components work together to respond effectively to a notional Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear event. In this scenario, a 10-25 kiloton nuclear device went off in a U.S. town. The Army Reserve established a mass casualty decontamination line and began treating the casualties in support of civilian authorities.
Both the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard are very important parts of Guardian Response 18. The Army Reserve works at a more federal level, while the Army National Guard works at a more local level.
“For my part, I can say that my counterpart who does MCD in the National Guard, we have a pretty good relationship,” said 1st Lt. Nicholas Taillon, Commander of the Army Reserve’s 414th Chemical Company from Orangeburg, S.C. “We keep in contact regularly even though we only see each other one time a year.”
They both work together, along with local responders, to make the mission a success.
“The local responders, firefighters or HAZMAT team don’t have the same depth of funding that the Reserve has,” said Taillon, “so in the event that there is something catastrophic that happens, it overwhelms them and we have that capacity to respond anywhere in the United States with greater resources, funding and personnel strength. We can assist them with that and be available.”
1st Lt. Michael Fedner, from the Army National Guard’s 231st Chemical Company in Reisterstown, Md., who is in charge of the National Guard team at the mass casualty decontamination line, has been with the unit for nine years.
“In a real-world scenario, the Command and Control Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Response Element-A [Army Reserve] are called up first, then the National Guard follows on after that. That’s due to the framework, so realistically the Reserve would set up this decontamination line and we would come in as relief-in-place,” said Fedner.
They can only operate for about 12 hours, so the National Guard comes in to relieve them. Then they can rest before they come back, he added.
“We were responding to a casualty event that occurred inside of the United States, at the back with the Army National Guard 251st Area Support Medical Company to treat patients and bring them the best care we can,” said Sgt. Kyle Everett, a combat medic who was triaging and treating patients in the ambulatory tent.
Many Soldiers feel that MUTC is a great place to train because of its realistic environment.
“MUTC is one of the best training facilities I’ve been to especially for the mission we have to where you actually feel like you’re in that situation,” said Everett.
Spc. Michael Lee, another combat medic with the 251st ASMC said he’s learned a lot from the training.
Maj. Brian Casey, a field surgeon with the 251st ASMC, also spends a lot of his time in between exercises to train the Soldiers with his medical knowledge, said Lee.
“I love the training,” said Lee. “It really benefits us.”

Teaming up, fighting fires

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, LA, UNITED STATES
03.21.2018
Photo by Airman 1st Class Tessa Corrick
2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs 

Captain Korell Cooper, Shreveport Fire Department firefighters, gears up for an annual re certification burn at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., March 21, 2018. Utilizing the burn pit on Barksdale allows the SFD to save approximately $30,000. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Tessa B. Corrick