Scenes From LANL’s 2015 Hazmat Challenge

Submitted by Chris Clark
on August 2, 2015
- 9:25 pm

C-130: This exercise was a mass casulty event caused by an ‘IED’ tossed into the hatch of a med-evac plane. In the exercise, the bomb landed on top of person in top bunk … the mission was to save victims two and three including a flight medic who was wounded and a person on a bottom bunk. Photo by Leland Lehman/ladailypost.com

C-130: Med-evac plane used in last week’s HazMat Challenge at LANL. Photo by Leland Lehman/ladailypost.com

LANL News:

Hazardous materials response teams from New Mexico, Missouri and Nebraska tested their skills last week in a series of graded, timed exercises at the 19th annual Hazmat Challenge at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

“The challenge provides hazardous materials responders the opportunity to test their skills, share best practices with other response agencies, and learn new techniques through realistic hazardous materials release scenarios in a safe, non-hazardous environment,” said of the

Chris Rittner of LANL’s Security and Emergency Operations Division explained that the challenge provides hazardous materials responders the opportunity to test their skills, share best practices with other response agencies, and learn new techniques through realistic hazardous materials release scenarios in a safe, non-hazardous environment.

Held at Los Alamos’ Technical Areas 16 and 49 through last Friday, the event required participants to respond to simulated hazardous materials emergencies involving an aircraft, clandestine laboratories, various modes of transportation, industrial piping scenarios, a simulated radiological release and a confined space event.

The finale of the Hazmat Challenge was a skills-based obstacle course; teams were graded and earned points based on their ability to perform response skills through a 10-station obstacle course while using fully encapsulating personal protective equipment.

The Laboratory began the Hazmat Challenge in 1996 as a way to hone the skills of its own hazmat team members. The event now offers a training opportunity in a competitive format that is open to all hazardous materials response teams in New Mexico and across the nation.

For more information on this year’s challenge, contact Chris Rittner at crittner@lanl.gov or Carmela Rodriguez at carmela@lanl.gov.

Pipes and Valves: The idea is to quickly stop a toxic leak by applying a patch to a broken or leaking pipe. Photo by Leland Lehman/ladailypost.com

Pipes and Valves: The toxic leak has been patched. Photo by Leland Lehman/ladailypost.com