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Area firefighters highlighted on TV show


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wolfee

Fri Sep 24 2004, 02:45AM

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WASHINGTON TWP Schooley’s Mountain firefighters will be featured in a
Discovery Channel special highlighting emergency preparedness in Morris
County that airs on Sunday, Oct. 24.

The program will depict the steps that county emergency agencies will
take in the event of a radiological or biological incident, said Keith
Heimburg, assistant chief of the Schooley’s Mountain Fire Protection
Agency

Five members of the department took off from
their day-jobs to be part of the exercise at the Morris County Fire
Training Center on Tuesday, Sept. 14, he said.

The scenario
portrayed a simulated radiation incident. The “victims” were required
to go through a general or gross decontamination procedure, followed by
a definitive one, he said.

The Schooley’s Mountain firefighters
were recruited to portray the victims in the incident, as well as to
provide equipment for the exercise.

Initial Steps

Gross or preliminary decontamination, the first step, involves flushing
the victims with massive amounts of water, Heimburg said.

Emergency apparatus were placed in two columns with numerous nozzles
attached, and then streams of water were directed into the corridor of
the building.

The definitive decon, or second step, requires
victims to enter a decontamination shelter, where their clothes are
removed and showers are used to remove any residual contamination,
Heimburg said.

The shelters are part of the regional
decontamination trailers that were purchased with federal homeland
security grants for Morris County, he said.

They are placed
at strategic undisclosed locations throughout the county to respond
throughout the northern New Jersey metropolitan area, he said.

The Morris County Office of Emergency Management, along with the Morris
County Regional Fire Coordinator, staged the exercise with several
Morris County Fire departments to check on the speed and effectiveness
of the procedure, Heimburg said.

In addition to Heimburg, the
other Washington Township participants were Lt. Al Pierce, and
firefighters Dave Labato, Brian Fitzpatrick and Brittany Odgen.

The exercise took about three hours to complete.

“We thought it was good opportunity to get people up to speed on emergency procedures like this,” Heimburg said.

? 2004 A RECORDER COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

wolfee

Fri Sep 24 2004, 02:48AM

Guest

I hope this isn't opposite an Eagles game..


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