If the unthinkable should happen …

Noreen Hyslop photo One of the members of Sikeston's Special Operations Team goes through the process of being decontaminated inside the decon tent. Performing the decon process are two members of the Ozark Regional Homeland Security Response Team. The spraying process, to cleanse the responder of any element of the chemical at hand, is the second process to take place within the confines of the inflated decontamination structure.

We're no longer the innocent nation that we once were. That becomes more and more evident each day as we visit our schools going through "intruder drills" and the locked back doors on all our campuses that once seemed so foreign and are now commonplace. Our baggage is routinely checked at the airport, as are the passengers, for weapons and devices that might serve as such. The days of unlocked back doors in our homes and opening the door to strangers is gone. Too much has occurred to allow us those luxuries that we used to take for granted.

Now, on a much larger scale, but with that same innocence having been taken from us, small towns like ours and those just down the highway, find it necessary to gather occasionally, as they did last week in Dexter, in order to gain the assurance that they are well-prepared in their role of securing our community and its people in the event that terrorism, specifically in the form of chemical warfare, may ever enter our territories.

It took place Thursday night before a backdrop that just a few weeks ago saw 4-H livestock judging, ferris wheels, and children's faces sticky with cotton candy...a vast difference in scenes from last week's display of submachine guns, Benelli shotguns, M4 semi-automatics, HKMP 5's and 308 Remington sniper rifles. There were Holographic sites and Glocks and Tasers, tear-gas and smoke bombs and lots of body armor. And ever-present was the awareness that should an occasion present itself that would require these weapons to be on display, there were experts in our midst ready to take on the job.

Noreen Hyslop Photo Lt. Ken Dicus (left) of the Special Operations Unit out of the Sikeston area, illustrates some of the equipment worn by his unit in response to the presence of a chemical in the area that would require the response of his security team. Pictured with Dicus is Cliff Johnson of the Special Ops Unit. Dicus primarily conducted the exercise last week held at the Stoddard County fairgrounds.

The gathering of the best of the best, when it comes to preparedness, was referred to as a "Homeland Security Response Team Training." The event was hosted by Dexter's Fire Chief Al Banken and the local Fire Department and was initiated so that two elements involved in area Homeland Security could come together to train on the processes that will be implemented should the threat of chemical warfare ever "hit home." The two elements were security and decontamination and they came to the training in the form of Sikeston's Special Operations Unit and various members of the Ozark Regional Homeland Security Response Team (HSRT). Their union served as an opportunity to not only review policies and practices with regard to the reaction of chemical warfare, but to gain from the experience of training.

A training it was, and not a simulation, as was stressed by Lt. Ken Dicus, who heads up the Special Operations Division of Sikeston's Department of Public Safety. Dicus, along with Ombudsman from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Jackson Bostic, directed the evening's activities.

"We want to learn from this experience," explained Dicus, who arrived at the Stoddard County fairgrounds with his seven member entourage that make up the Special Operations force. They are an elite group, comprised of select members of Sikeston's Department of Public Safety, who also are utilized as the areas's S.W.A.T. Team. Should chemicals, or the threat of chemicals, ever play a role in an emergency situation in our area, they are the men who will be called upon to secure the area.

Noreen Hyslop Photo Captain Dave Rowe (left), of the Dexter Fire Department, shows the physical effects of having been in the protective hazardous protective suit for an extended time as Chuck Kasting, Assistant Director and Paramedic with the Stoddard County Ambulance District, takes his blood pressure.

On hand for the training, in addition to the Sikeston unit, were members of several groups who make up the HSRT. They included members of Dexter's Fire Department, along with representative members of Stoddard County's Ambulance District, Doniphan's Fire Department, Poplar Bluff's Police and Fire Departments, Butler County's Fire Department, and members of the Ozark Regional HSRT, to include Medical Advisor Dr. Alan Chen. Also on hand was Dexter's Mayor, Joe Weber. As importantly, officials from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources were present, in the persons of Bostic and On-Site Coordinator Art Goodin, who represented the DNR's Environmental Emergency Response Section. It was the DNR' responsibility to identify the alleged chemical present and then direct procedures accordingly. DNR is considered to be a vital component in the mix of emergency responders to a situation involving the threat of biological contamination.

"We're here to provide technical assistance to the responders," explained Goodin. "We have a command center in Jefferson City that we have at our disposal to utilize on a remote basis, if needed, to assist with some of the technical issues that might arise in an instance involving chemical analysis, but we also have a role in any clean-up activity that follows an event of this nature."

Chief Banken further defined, "In case of a real emergency situation that involved biological or chemical warfare, the Sikeston Special Operations Unit would supply the security angle of things and the rest of us here would provide the decontamination process and we're here to practice the combined procedures."

Following a brief presentation by Dicus regarding weapons on hand and their specific purposes, should the need arise, the various agencies were instructed as to their role in the training exercise. The scenario would involve an area of contamination deemed as hazardous (the designated Hot Zone), thus calling for the Special Operations Unit to secure the area, and likely deal with exposure to the chemical at hand in the process.

The first order of business, though, just as it would be in a real-life situation, involves a Medical Monitoring Team. The team was made up of members from Stoddard County's Ambulance District and was on hand to take and record the vitals of each responder prior to the men gearing up in their decon suits and proceeding to the "scene" of the contamination. And just as might occur in a real situation, one of the responder's blood pressure was found to be elevated and he was prevented from participating in the drill. The disappointment on his face was clear. The vitals of all participants are checked once again once they complete the exercise.

Lt. Dicus was the man in charge at the drill, giving direction to not only his Sikeston-based officers, but to all departments present, assigning each a role in the training event. While all geared up in the cumbersome, protective decon suits, members of the Sikeston team were additionally equipped with air tanks, with each responder given a 60 minute air supply, since they were the responders who would engage in direct contact with the alleged contaminant.

Once the Special Operations Unit successfully located the illusive chemical, along with any perpetrator involved, they proceeded to the decon tent, manned by the other agencies on hand which include are firefighters and emergency responders. In a real situation, two decon tents would be inflated, one to decontaminate male subjects and one for females. For training purposes, one tent was inflated for the training. The tent is partitioned off into three sections, the first to be used for those who have been exposed to the chemical to discard equipment, the second for the subjects to actually undergo a power spraying decontamination process (the Warm Zone), after which they step into the third and final area, where any air tanks in use are removed and where clothing is discarded through a side vent to later be disposed. They are now in the Cold Zone of the training exercise. With the masks and tanks finally discarded, it becomes evident just how confining the decon suits are to these individuals. Some literally poured the sweat from their boots and sleeves once they were free of the confinement. It's hot and heavy gear and it is not for the claustrophobic.

At the conclusion of the evening's activities, once vital statistics were taken and recorded again, the forces gathered to discuss the drill. The general consensus was that the exercise went exceedingly well and it served its purpose by allowing the agencies to see the areas that could be improved upon and to be assured of methods and procedures which worked well.

"We learned some things," concluded Lt. Dicus, "and we'll continue to draw from this experience. It's only through these kinds of scenarios that we can apply our knowledge and techniques and learn from what transpires."

The men taking part in last week's exercise are from all walks of life. Some are full time emergency responders, but others are insurance agents and educators, funeral directors and business owners. They are people among us with whom we deal every day. They comprise a very special group of individuals whose ready wit gives way to the camaraderie that is theirs alone. It is a special bond these responders possess. Each knows the other will always be behind him or aside him when needed and that unspoken assurance goes a long way between them. Most received nothing more for their presence at the drill than a free meal and the assurance of a job well done and unlike many among today's workforce, that was enough.

How ironic it is that the very nature of their business provokes fear, but that the very nature of their efforts evokes a sense of comfort on the part of the public, content in the knowledge that they're prepared to serve our needs, while hoping that we'll never have to call.