Soldiers in gas masks and dull gray chemical hazard suits line up to be scrubbed down and rinsed off at adjacent stations set up like an assembly line. They are the 547th Area Support Medical Company, role playing personnel who have been exposed to hazardous materials.

The Soldiers decontaminating them wear the same protective equipment to include rubber boots, gloves and sealing tape wrapped at the wrists, neck and anywhere dust or vapors could slip through the suits.

These Soldiers are trying the suits for the first time, which are used primarily by civil support personnel and are designed more for functionality than comfort.

The 547th ASMC trained and certified with U.S. Army North on hazardous material operations and awareness April 10 to 13.

The 547th ASMC will take on a mission supporting a civil support joint task force of first responders to disaster areas.

The first few days consisted of in-class training with a focus on the medical role that the 547th's Soldiers would play in mass casualty decontamination.

"These are the basics. It's very intensive, very mission-specific training for our mission. When we come out of this we'll be qualified to perform decontamination. These (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosives) familiarity classes will figure into two future training exercises," Capt. A.J. Maccini, commander of 547th ASMC, said.

The company, a part of 56th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, is preparing for Yakima Training Center exercise evaluations in May, and an exercise in Indiana called Vibrant Response in July.

The Department of Defense maintains trained personnel to respond to devastated areas as part of the National Response Plan. Under the 62nd Medical Brigade, 56th MMB will be part of the DOD's joint task force.

"All of these exercises we're doing will get us ready for the DCRF mission; Defense CBRNE Reaction Force beginning in October to support the Department of Defense Joint Task Force," Sgt. Sal Sifuentes, a combat medic, said.

"This DCRF mission, in a worst-case scenario, would call us in to respond to the use of weapons of mass destruction. We would deal with things like a release of hazardous gasses or a biological attack. We would also respond if, say, a train tips over and spills chlorine, oxygen tanks. (Or) if a wildfire spreads into a refinery with bad results - all kinds of possibilities," Sifuentes said.

The next phase was field training to learn about hazardous materials, how to protect responders using the varying degrees of personal protective equipment, and how to physically conduct technical decontamination.

"For the training, we're using chemical resistant splash suits that offer ‘level C' protection. The suits in use are classified ‘A,' as the highest level of protection, down to D-class," Kirby Lastinger said. Lastinger is a lead instructor from Safety Solutions, which is contracted by ARNORTH to conduct training with 547th ASMC.

"The C-class suit protects against incidental splash with a mask for protection from dust, mist or vapors coming off of hazardous material. This level of protection is required for most biological or chemical hazards," Lastinger said.

"The two major missions we have are teaching these Soldiers how to use the personal protective equipment, then run a decontamination point. We also touch on patient movement and have emergency response personnel with us to demonstrate things like casualty carries," Lastinger said.

Putting the Soldiers through different training events while wearing the suits gave them some idea of how they must work with reduced dexterity, visual impairment and reduced verbal capability.

"For a lot of our younger Soldiers, this is their first time seeing this. We have dental techs, lab techs - so this is new for some of us. Very few of us have done this in prior civilian work, but everyone is catching on," Sifuentes said.

Photo by

Sgt. Mark Miranda/5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Sgt. Sal Sifuentes (left), a combat medic with 547th Area Support Medical Company, watches Soldiers go through a decontamination wash April 11 while they wear class-C protective suits during hazardous material operations training.