Washington National Guard holds bioterrorism exercise at SFD Training Center

The Spokane Fire Department is supporting the Washington National Guard - Joint Army and Air National Guard forces by hosting an exercise designed to evaluate the National Guard teams during a simulated Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Explosive (CBRNE) attack. The exercise will feature realistic emergency scenarios and "actor" casualties in moulage makeup. The exercise started today and will run through September 13. The SFD is a response partner with the National Guard as the military teams are secondary responders, after local emergency response, during the initial 72 hours of a CBRNE incident.

The National Guard CERF (CBRNE Emergency Response Force) team consists of four elements: 75 person decontamination (Army Guard); 50 person search and extraction (Air Guard); 45 medical personnel for triage, treatment and transportation (Air Guard); 16 person command and control (Army and Air Guard). The members of the Washington National Guard come from every community, background and profession throughout the region. They are truly neighbors helping neighbors through a tradition of service.