By Airman 1st Class Andrea F. Liechti
115th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
The Wisconsin National Guard now has a
certified resource to call upon in the event of a natural or man-made disaster
in the state.
About 150 Soldiers and Airmen of
Wisconsin's Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear High Explosive (CBRNE)
Enhanced Response Force Package, or CERFP, trained June 2-14 at Volk Field
Combat Readiness Training Center, Camp Douglas, Wis., before earning the
certification Friday (June 15).
Wisconsin is the 18th state to become
CERFP certified.
Maj. Gen. Don Dunbar, adjutant general
of Wisconsin, was pleased with the certification.
"This mission is critical to our
nation's homeland defense," Dunbar said. "Wisconsin was privileged to
be entrusted with it. The results of this exercise evaluation validate the
confidence National Guard Bureau and the U.S. Northern Command has in us, and I
am proud of [unit commander] Maj. Rochelle Maier and the entire CERFP - what an
incredible team."
The CERFP certification program tests
Army and Air National Guard members on their ability to successfully complete
rescue efforts after natural or man-made disasters occur.
"This certification means Wisconsin
residents can rest at ease if a natural disaster strikes," said Army 1st
Lt. Adam Puhl of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry. "The CERFP team
has been trained to provide support when the civilian relief efforts are
running out of resources and before the federal relief efforts step in."
More than 150 Guard members were divided
into three teams: search and extraction, decontamination and medical.
"It's nice to see how well the
teams have gelled together since day one," said Lt. Col. Jennifer Schmidt,
CERFP chief nurse and a member of the Wisconsin Air National Guard's 115th
Medical Group.
The teams were evaluated on how well
they worked together in disaster-simulated scenarios.
The search and extraction team safely
removed victims from the disaster zone. They worked in 40-minute work and rest
cycles to prevent dehydration and exhaustion, Puhl said, and were challenged on
their ability to communicate with the victims and each other.
"Once rescued, the victims were
marked by different colored ribbons distinguishing ambulatory and
non-ambulatory for the decontamination team," Puhl said.
The decontamination team worked quickly
to ensure walking, non-walking and military personnel were properly sprayed
down to keep contamination confined to the disaster zone, allowing medical
personnel to treat victims in a clean environment.
The medical team was the last stop for
the victims in the CERFP process. They provided the necessary treatment and
checked vitals of everyone, including military personnel.
"The team demonstrated its
abilities to move the victims through quickly and efficiently," Schmidt
said. "Everyone knew their job and role throughout the process."
Under the 2010 reorganization of the
Department of Defense's domestic CBRNE consequence management enterprise,
initiated during the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, the National Guard is to
provide 10 homeland response forces - one for each FEMA district - as well as
17 total CERFP teams.
Wisconsin's CERFP team operates in FEMA
Region 5, which includes Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio.
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