December 13, 2010 — KEY EVENT

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Bellows Air Force Station, Hawaii The Army and Air Force Hawaii National Guardsmen, All-hazards Response Team conducted a CBRNE (chemical, biological, nuclear, high-yield explosive) Enhanced Response Force at Bellows Air Force Station in order to be evaluated by the Joint Inter-Agency Training and Education Center.  The CERF team had to conduct six days of exercises and role-playing based on an invented scenario of a large scale disaster striking Hawaii. The scenario that the team responded to was a “blast” from a dirty bomb containing Sarin gas, a powerful nerve agent. They conducted search and extraction, decontamination, and medical treatment on the “victims” of the scenario.  The CERF has been around since 2004, and is evaluated biennially. Since the Army’s team changes when a whole unit deploys, regularly going through the validation as a joint exercise is particularly valuable. The Guard’s primary mission is Homeland Defense, but they typically respond to earthquakes, floods, or storm cleanup.  Although there has never been an incident with weapons of mass destruction in Hawaii, the Hawaii National Guard CERF taskforce has special equipment training and readiness in addition to their Federal and “go to war” missions.  HCI constructed the CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package (NGCERFP) Structure Collapse Venue Support (SCVS) also known as a “rubble pile” and the five training lanes used for the Search and Evacuation (S&E) portion of the joint exercise and evaluation. HCI also provided recognized instructors from several certifying organizations, such as FEMA, ODP, IAFF, experienced in structural collapse; emergency building shoring; heavy breaching and breaking; steel burning and welding; crane operations and rigging; lifting and moving; confined space rescue; and trenching and excavation rescue and rope rescue. Many of our instructors have been deployed to incidents of National significance such as the World Trade Center Collapse and multiple Hurricane disasters globally. The efforts of our employees ensured a solid educational experience for the CBRNE responders.  “HCI was honored to play a part in the Hawaii National Guard’s success during these exercises, and is proud of the support we provided the Guard,” stated Project Manager Maria Lambert. “It was important for these medical responders to obtain their certifications, so that they may be trained to the highest quality standards, not only for the sake of the Guard units themselves, but for the communities that surround them.”