Green Knoll Rescue Squad Officers Train for Worst Incidents

Green Knoll Rescue Squad Chief Michael Halperin and Deputy Chief Timothy Ring recently completed advance training for mass casualty incidents at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Ala.  

The CDP is operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency and is the only federally-chartered Weapons of Mass Destruction training facility in the nation.

Training at the CDP includes healthcare and public health courses at the Noble Training Facility, the nation’s only hospital dedicated to training healthcare professionals in disaster preparedness and response.  This allowed the chiefs to not only attend lectures, but to participate in actual scenario based exercises, utilizing the hospital, including their Emergency Department and two floors of patient rooms.

After four days of lectures and scenarios, the chiefs participated in an Integrated Capstone Event (ICE), which bought together Emergency Medical Services (EMS), hospital leadership, emergency room staff and Haz-Mat teams for a fully integrated exercise.   

The exercise included the release of hazardous materials at two different locations. In addition to securing the hazardous materials, there were multiple people exposed, thus requiring Haz-Mat crews to decontaminate them before they could be transported to the hospital. CDP staff drove multiple ambulances transporting patients to the hospital, thus creating a heavy flow of patients for hospital staff to manage and treat.  

During this exercise, Chief Halperin served as the Medical Branch Director within the hospital, while Deputy Chief Ring worked with the Field Command group, filling various incident commands roles responsible for the overall Fire & EMS response. 

This advanced hands-on training enables responders to effectively prevent, respond to, and recover from real-world incidents involving acts of terrorism and other hazardous materials.  In order to be selected to participate in this training, the chiefs had to submit an application to NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, who then recommended them to the Department of Homeland Security.  Once approved, all costs related to the training are federally funded at no cost to the state, town or Emergency Medical Services agency.

The training received by the chiefs will not only help them in their roles with the Green Knoll Rescue Squad, but throughout the entire area.  Chief Halperin, who works full time for the Borough of Somerville, is also a liaison to the Somerville Office of Emergency Management.  He is also the vice president of the Somerset County Chief EMS Officer’s Association.  Deputy Chief Ring also serves as a Deputy EMS Coordinator with the Somerset County Office of Emergency Management–EMS Bureau.

According to Chief Halperin, the “CDP training helped me to gain critical skills to respond effectively to incidents with potential mass casualties."