Finally the chance to put into practice, the learning’s of previous trainings in a real chemical environment was upon the trainees from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

With the sun and temperatures somewhat unlike their normal work environment the trainees first task was to gain confidence in the equipment and more importantly themselves, after all its not every day you face a cocktail of live chemical warfare agents !!!

With confidence gained through the progressive use of simulants followed by live agents the basics of agent identification and behavior in the field was soon behind them.

By early mid week the training moved up a gear where trainees were faced with specific to role scenarios at both the individual and team level.  These scenarios were designed by Hotzone staff to allow students the chance to experience and analyze the difficulties involved when live chemical agent meets a potential explosive threat. Scenarios included leaking legacy munitions, chemical suicide vests and remotely operated under-vehicle spray devices which incorporated an explosive element. The intention of the latter being to initiate the need for team decontamination and undressing procedures.  

The closing stages of the week saw the trainees introduced to low level radioactive sources where key lessons of dose rate mapping, dose management and instrument response were all practiced for the first time.  This was in preparation for further radiation training at our partner facility, Seibersdorf Laboratories.   

Much was learnt by the trainees and they take home many areas for procedural development, in addition the training also provided an opportunity for the Hotzone Trainers  to conduct evaluation and analysis.  The results, will be used to further enhance similar trainings in order to benefit other trainees by providing training that is realistic, applicable and of course unique for the non military sector.  

Confidence building using agent on differing surfaces      Specific to Role Scenario: Leaking munition using Mustard Agent

This latest stage focused on incident response and critical infrastructure over a three week period in which students focused their attention on three main areas of planning, execution and recovery, all at the operator level.

Lessons learnt from previous courses were applied as well as many new ones all combining to give the students a solid base from which more detailed doctrine can be developed.

Particularly emphasised was the importance of scene assessment both prior to and at the point of gaining ‘eyes on’ with sometimes the ‘eyes’ being electronic thus utilising current equipment and procedures.

The seasonal temperatures also played an important role in highlighting the challenges presented when operating in PPE for potentially long periods.

Students practice initial intervention procedures                     Students practice own team rescue procedures

From 25 to 29 March 2013, two instructors from Hotzone Solutions (HZS) provided assistance to the Centre d’expertise Sécurité Nucléaire – Nucléaire, radiologique, biologique et chimique (CE-SN-NRBC) during a training course conducted at Airbase 120, Cazaux, France.
 
The training course, which was attended by some 13 fire fighters, consisted of theoretical modules and a series of practical exercises, two of which included scenarios dealing with chemical and biological threats.
 
Hotzone Solutions’ new generation of chemical warfare agent simulants were used during the training. Hotzone Solutions instructors provided training on how to use HZS simulants, prepared or contributed to the preparation of indoor and outdoor practical exercises, and tested the proposed scenarios together with the instructors of the CE-SN-NRBC.
 
The management team of the CE-SN-NRBC and the trainees expressed their full satisfaction with the professionalism of the two HZS instructors and with the realism of the exercises when using the new generation of chemical warfare agent simulants.

The northern winter this year presented many challenges to outdoor live agent training as the Dutch Military found when starting their first of their series of trainings for 2013, in March. This training was a continuation of the CBRN company deployment exercises of 2012 to develop their individual and collective skills in detection and decontamination operations.

The combination of cold conditions and heavy snow tested not only the participants but also the adaptability and experience of the Hotzone Solutions Staff, to find solutions to enable the training to continue.

Hotzone Solutions Staff supported this training for the 101 (NLD) CBRN defense company with staff and a decontamination platoon; CBRN Response Unit (Detection, Identification and Monitoring) with 4 squads within safety and supervisory roles.

It could have been the case that no training was conducted at all but for the ability of the facility, HZS and the Dutch Military commanders to work together to overcome these wintry obstacles.

In the end the training was conducted successfully and provided the Dutch personnel valuable experience in adverse working conditions.