Training prepares first responders for ‘the worst days’

At 8:06 a.m. Wednesday, a call went out over local emergency radios of the discovery of “spilled chemicals” inside an office at the old Lawton City Hall Annex.

It followed Thad Hulbert , Emergency Management Specialist, unlocking the now unused building’s east doors.

The call went out over the first responders’ training channel. Comanche County–Lawton Emergency Management, Lawton Fire and Police, Emergency Communications, Comanche County Memorial Hospital and the Medical Emergency Response Center (MERC) were conducting an exercise in partnership with the 63rd Civil Support Team as part of the Department of Homeland Security. Based out of Norman, the team is proud to state it will respond anywhere within 60 minutes when called to an emergency.

Hulbert said the day’s scenario was being called out like a live, real situation to the building at 102 SW 5th. He would soon be returning to the Emergency Operations Command to filter through the situation with the boots on the ground at the site. The specifics of the situation to follow were unknown to the local responders.

“We’re being tested as well,” he said. “We don’t get opportunity to train a lot with the 63rd. We don’t know a lot about the exercise so it’s all organic.”

Ron Poland from the 63rd said it would be a full scale integrated response to a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) incident. The scenario, he said, included a disgruntled recently laid off employee who had come back to his workspace to cause some nefarious actions and, ultimately, poison those he believed did him wrong.

“He’s extracting a toxin and injecting it into hand sanitizer to poison those at a City Hall meeting,” he said. “We’re trying to reach a realism with the likelihood of it being possible.”

Poland’s partner in orchestrating the event, 63rd Science Officer John Schatz, would be the perpetrator setting up his office chemistry lab.

“I’m always the disgruntled worker,” he replied when asked if that was his role. Then, he laughed. He enjoys his job, he said.

“One of the great parts of CST is it’s giving us an opportunity to learn,” he said. “Our training keeps getting better and better.

Inside the building a pair of Lawton police officers are first inside to clear the building and assess the situation. They discover a table in a front office with components for a chemistry set. Further back, they find a smaller office. Along some shelving is a U.S. flag hanged upside down; it’s traditionally a sign of “dire distress,” according to the United States Flag Code. In front of the flag is a tall glass beaker with a bubbling liquid inside creating a reaction. On another table, a different set up is brewing up its “toxins.”

The situation is similar to how the response would be to an active shooter, according to LPD Officer Jordain Jacobs.

“I’ve had training before that’s sort of like this,” she said.

After assessing the scene, Jacobs shoots photos to show the next wave of responders so they can have an idea of what they’re facing.

Those would be firefighters decked out in breathing apparatus and bunker gear. Jacobs and another officer brief them outside the building and offer a map to the inside.

As the firefighters gathered intelligence outside the building, Schatz prepared for the next phase. He’s been with the 63rd since 2016 and a science officer for six years. He said the firefighters would follow protocols: look for hazards, assess the threat and decide if they can take care of it or if they need assistance from the 63rd or some other agency. It’s all about focusing on safety first, he said.

“That’s the way we work, it’s public health before law enforcement in handling a situation,” he said. “It’s an unfortunate world but, at the same time, it’s fortunate to learn about.”

Before the firefighters enter the hazard zone, Schatz sprays isopropyl rubbing alcohol around the doorway to set off sensors carried by the firefighters. It serves as a substitute for the sensors to pick an anomaly in the room. On the rubber hoses and chemistry glassware is a substance that is non-toxic but serves as a stand-in when a UV light shines on the gloved hands of the firefighters who touch it. There is also a non-toxic liquid that puts out a scent alerting anyone without a mask that there’s something in the air.

This exposure would bring the 63rd into action to serve as a decontamination team as well as HAZMAT team to dampen the threat. All of it would be connected by this disparate group of first responders working to protect the public and themselves. Schatz said the purpose is simple but powerful.

“We’re here to learn about and train for the worst days to be able to handle them in the best ways possible,” he said.