Hermiston Herald
March 19, 2002

Emergency crews get mobile monitors

By Frank Lockwood
Staff writer

BOARDMAN - Chemical Stockpile Emergency Management achieved a goal which
they had sought for several years: Fire departments and hospitals can now
monitor for chemicals that could be in the air following a chemical
emergency.

Four AP2C-V chemical agent mobile monitors and eleven AP2C hand held
monitors have been issued. The AP2C-V sensor mounts on the hood of a vehicle
and is connected by a cable to a lap held monitor box so that responders can
read it from inside the truck or car.

"This is new equipment, and this is the first time that we have had it. ...
Hopefully it will never be used in a real event, but we have to practice
with it It will provide us with emergency service during an event," said
Morrow County Emergency Management Director Casey Beard.

With the new equipment, two people can do the job of eight or ten. "That's
important when you may have only a few volunteers show up," he said.
Boardman's fire department is manned by volunteers, but, according to Bryan
Hopkins, the department has some of the most modern equipment available.
"Morrow County is probably one of the best prepared sites in the country,"
Beard said.

Umatilla and Morrow county emergency responders train together in
preparation for accidents involving chemical weapons. "We don't separate by
county," Beard said. Instead, the two counties form a mobile response team
with an incident commander, who directs personnel from both counties. "The
incident commander has the technical training to know how to put his
response team to the best use," Beard said.

The Umatilla Chemical Depot is the first chemical weapons stockpile site in
the country to have the mobile monitors. "This is a pilot program for the
country," Beard said. "Now people come to us and ask, 'How do you do it?'"
Oregon CSEPP has been approached by people from Kentucky, the Portland Fire
Bureau, and even the Winter Olympics, regarding the AP2C.

Not anyone can own an AP2C, however. The units are registered with the
French government and other entities. "We are dealing with foreign countries
and national security issues," Beard said.

Besides the monitors, other standard Army equipment has proven unacceptable
for CSEPP' purposes.

The protective clothing, which comes from England, is lighter in weight, and
cooler, which is important because emergency workers may need to wear the
gear for extended periods of time. The fully encapsulated suits used by the
Army must be worn for shorter periods of time, especially in hot weather,
because of the high temperatures which build up inside the protective suits.
The AP2C and AP2C-V monitoring equipment was selected because of its
simplicity of use, Beard said. "These are very simple devices to use, but
they are incredibly sophisticated technologically." The initial monitoring
training requires twenty minutes, although Steve Myren, the state's personal
protective equipment coordinator, said he could teach someone to use the
hand held unit in about ninety seconds.

The AP2C is a replacement for more standard I-CAM monitors, which were
provided earlier by the Army but deemed inappropriate by first responders.

The I-CAM units were more complicated, and sometimes first responders could
not remember how to use them. Another advantage of the AP2C is that it has a
short recovery time after each reading. Whereas the I-CAM took five minutes
to clear, the AP2C takes seconds. The AP2C is also said to be less
expensive to maintain.

The four AP2C-V mobile monitors were issued for use by the the fire
departments in Boardman, Irrigon, Stanfield and Pendleton. The eleven hand
held AP2C hand held monitors have been issued to area fire departments and
hospitals. Agencies receiving hand held monitors include Heppner, Boardman,
Umatilla, Hermiston, Stanfield, Irrigon and Pendleton fired departments, as
well as to Good Shepherd, Saint Anthony's, and Pioneer Memorial hospitals.
Chemical warfare agent is stored at Umatilla Chemical Depot, awaiting
incineration at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. The newly
constructed incineration project has entered the phase of testing called
"systemization," at the Army and its contractors prepare to destroy the
bombs, rockets and other containers of agent.

Responders in Umatilla and Morrow counties regularly practice working
together to prepare for a worst-case accident involving the chemical agent
accident. Such an event, depot officials say, is unlikely, but the Chemical
Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program has been putting programs in place
for the past several years anyway, to ensure public safety.

According to the plans, up to four task forces will be created to respond to
life threatening emergencies that may occur during a Umatilla Chemical Depot
chemical emergency. Monitoring equipment will be used to clear the response
entry route in advance of responding emergency crews.

Under standard operating procedures, each team will consist of a task force
leader and monitoring specialist, one fire engine, one water tender, and one
ambulance. Each command vehicle will be equipped with an AP2C-V and one
hand held AP2C. All task force members will be outfitted with additional
specialized equipment if the situation so requires.

To clear the route, the command vehicle will drive no more than 20 miles per
hour, taking continuous samples to determine if chemical concentrations are
equal to or greater than Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH)
levels. The hand held AP2C will ensure chemical concentrations inside the
cab of the vehicle are simultaneously monitored for IDLH conditions.
Emergency responders will also be insulated by protective clothing and
special equipment, and continuous monitoring will be performed during
rescue and fire operations.

The monitors are rated for extreme weather conditions. "These were designed
to be used in actual battle fields where there may be dust ... vehicles
driving by," Beard said. They are rated for temperatures from 140 degrees
Fahrenheit to 20 degrees below zero, he said, and for winds of 80 to ninety
miles per hour. The monitoring vehicles are expected to travel at 20 miles
per hour.

"The bottom line is, we get maximum protection for our first responders,"
said Morrow County Judge Terry Tallman. "These first responders are our
friends and neighbors, and we want them to have that protection," he said.
"That's the level of protection, as a community, that we have all been
seeking," Tallman said.

Frank Lockwood may be reached at 567-6457 or by e-mail at
flockwood@hermistonherald.com.