Just a drill: Hazardous materials response tested

Members of the Tennessee National Guard 45th Civil Support Team perfomed a drill Tuesday for a scenario that no one wants to see for real -- a chemical or biological attack on the Calsonic Arena.
(T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Order this photo]

Because had the men in the weird looking suits with the fancy equipment been here for real, it would mean that Shelbyville had suffered either a chemical or biological incident.

Four members of the Air Force National Guard and 18 members of the Army National Guard were using Calsonic Arena for a training exercise on Tuesday to prepare for exactly that type of nightmare.

Bedford County Emergency Management Agency director Scott Johnson said the 45th Civil Support Team (CST) of Smyrna is associated with the Tennessee National Guard.

The CST team has been funded by the Department of Homeland Security over the past few years. Its job is to respond within Tennessee to terrorism incidents or "unknown chemical incidents."

According to U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jeff Brown, the CST trains to deal with incidents involving weapons of mass destruction, whether chemical, biological, nuclear or explosive.

Brown explained Tuesday they were working with elements of the FBI and BCEMA, neither of whom were on site, explaining that the two agencies "were worked into their scenario."

The team works for the governor and the Tennessee Adjutant General, Brown stated, but also works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

It's a good thing it's just "a scenario," too: Members of the civil support team were acting as though "an event" occurred in the arena that resulted in 40 patients ending up at Heritage Medical Center with blisters.

Military personnel in full hazardous material gear were inside the arena taking samples to see what type of chemical or biological agent was "used" in the "attack."

When they emerged from the arena, a full mobile laboratory was ready so tests could be run to tell them what kind of weapon was used in the attack -- biological or chemical.

The civil support team also had a decontamination line ready to go for when the personnel were ready to come out of the haz-mat suits.

Also at their disposal is a communications truck complete with a satellite uplink, full Internet access, a weather station and wireless mobile video from cameras set up inside the arena.

The T-G was not allowed to take photos of the equipment inside the trailer due to its sensitive nature.

Johnson said that every state now has a CST in place and the gear they possess "is the stuff counties can't afford to have," but they can be called to assist the county if needed.

County emergency management was not part of the drill, Johnson explained, but members were on hand to observe the process, since the county has its own hazardous material team.