The Hot Zone
Inside a poisonous cloud of chlorine gas, workers count on AFSCME training to get them out alive.
DULUTH, MINNESOTA
Jack Strom stood in the neutral zone, ready to go. From the outside — encased in an airtight blue suit of PVC and Teflon, its hood zipped and sealed, the mask of his respirator visible through the face shield — he looked as if he were visiting a planet without oxygen.
A valve had sprung a leak and was pouring deadly chlorine gas into the atmosphere. Strom and team member Al Parella prepared to enter the contaminated area, "the hot zone," to fix the leak.
At a signal from the incident commander, Strom and Parella headed into the poisonous cloud. They shut off the valve, but the leak didn’t stop. They needed more equipment.
Back in the neutral zone, a fully suited backup team stood ready to relieve or rescue them if anything were to go wrong. Strom and Parella each picked up half of the kit they would need to seal off the area around the valve.
The kit was hard to hold through the three layers of gloves Strom wore as protection against contamination. He tried breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth to calm himself and slow his breathing. The tank on his back held an hour of oxygen.
Communicating by signals, since they could not hear clearly through the hoods, the two set up a seal around the leak. They then headed back to the neutral zone, where a team waited to thoroughly decontaminate them — and where their instructors waited to applaud and critique everyone’s performance.
HANDS ON. Strom and Parella, members of AFSCME Local 66 (Council 96), participated in this simulation as part of a 40-hour program training them to handle a chlorine leak at their Duluth, Minn., wastewater treatment facility. They are just two of over 8,000 members to be trained by the AFSCME Training and Education Institute (ATEI) since 1991.
Funded by a $3.2 million grant from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, ATEI teachers travel the country in their specially equipped truck, training AFSCME members who work around large quantities of toxic chemicals or who may have to respond to an emergency release of toxic chemicals.
"For me, hands-on is the best type of training," says Strom. "You actually go out there and put on the suit and attach the kit and learn how to decontaminate people."
AFSCME members are often the first on the scene during a hazardous materials emergency. Training is critical if they are to react well and safely in an emergency. Roadworkers, landfill operators and others may discover spills or leaks. They may also have to help contain hazardous materials (HAZMAT). All of these workers are covered by federal regulations requiring that they be provided with appropriate training, like that offered by ATEI. Even in states where the Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not cover public employees, the Environmental Protection Agency enforces an identical regulation.
Strom, who is new to the HAZMAT team at his worksite, is confident that the program has given him the ability to handle an emergency.
"This was very good training," he says. "The people were real knowledgeable. I applaud the whole team of trainers. This might save my life, or somebody else’s."
By Alison S. Lebwohl
For further information on the AFSCME Training and Education Institute, e-mail Amy Mock or call her at (614) 794-9642.
