SCHWEINFURT, Germany -- Clouds begin to congest the sky blanking out the spring sun. As a package is removed from a bag by a post office worker, actions so seamlessly routine, one would have barely noticed the white powder sprinkle from the parcel. The post office mail manager stops, then realizing the seriousness of the situation places a call to the military police. A suspicious substance has been found.
The MPs ignite into action.
A military police dispatch delivers the news to a squad car, then informs the fire department and notifies the Installation Operations Center. The MPs are the first to converge on the scene and secure the area. Soon after, the fire department arrives with blue lights flashing, piercing the gray rain clouds in the sky. Fire crews evaluate the circumstances and determine that a hazmat rescue team needs to construct a decontamination area. Contaminated postal workers may require immediate assistance, they determine.
As the decontamination zone is being constructed a command post is established just outside by the incident commander, Capt. Elizabeth Mooney, USAG Schweinfurt Provost Marshal. It is from here that the incident commander will coordinate efforts to isolate the substance and rescue those inside. Under the green and white CP flag, Mooney has strapped on the incident commander vest and, weighing courses of action, coordinates plans of operation. Mooney decides to notify and utilize the skills of the 12th Chemical Company -- a valuable tenant unit here for such an instance -- and their recognizance platoon arrives shortly on the scene.
Meanwhile, members of the fire department dressed in hazmat gear and resembling space travelers, conduct rescue operations for some of the postal workers. The rescued postal workers slowly make their way through the decontamination tents, shedding any unwanted chemicals they may have been in contact with during the event.
The Soldiers from the 12th Chemical Company are suiting up in their hazmat gear. Then the area turns silent except for the rhythmic sound of the three members of the 12th Chem. Co. breathing with the assistance of their air tanks as they approach the entrance of the building. While the fire department rescued those inside, it will be up to the 12th Chem. Co. to locate, isolate and possibly identify and neutralize the potentially fatal substance. The team describes the innards of the building and the location of the hazardous material to their leaders who are safely tucked away behind the caution tape. The many hours practicing these drills makes their actions look effortless and the team confidently acquires a sample of the substance to test on their Hazmat ID computer. The material is determined to be nonhazardous. Still proceeding with a side of caution, the remaining postal workers exit the building and enter the decontamination tent and are seen by a medic. Everyone is safe.
These steps were taken during a drill conducted May 15 at Conn Barracks in a "white powder" functional exercise held by different emergency service departments throughout the garrison.
"The exercise was designed to allow the different facets of the garrison emergency response teams to train together and respond to an emergency situation," said Emergency Manager and Antiterrorism Officer, Joseph Chesnut.
Earlier this year on March 19 an incident all too similar occurred at the post office receiving area on Conn Barracks spurring the garrison into motion. The incident prompted garrison officials to conduct this functional exercise to better refine how the emergency service departments respond to these situations.
"I take events, like the finding of a white substance, seriously," said Desiree Faehr, acting operations supervisor and official mail manager, who participated in the exercise and was also present at the March 19th incident.
As a postal worker for over four years the March 19 event did not deter her from going through the proper protocols, said Faehr whose main concern that day was her staff.
According to the lab results received by Mooney, the substance found on March 19 was tested and found to be a nonhazardous material. There was an insufficient amount remaining after the initial test to precisely determine a conclusive result of the substance.
During a real incident the Schweinfurt community is directed to connect to the garrison website, www.teamschweinfurt.com, and monitor updates on the Facebook page. During the March 19 scare, 2,060 people read the news of the incident on Facebook as it unfolded, according to the Facebook metrics, Insights. Leveraging social media here has become an innovative resource to notify the public.
Garrison exercises similar to the "white powder" functional exercise are conducted quarterly throughout the year, said Brian Adkins, the chief of operations here who is responsible for the garrison's training program. This allows all the necessary emergency responders to work together and become more efficient and knowledgeable in the appropriate course of actions needed in critical situations.
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