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Team Fairchild tests base capabilities during emergency management exercise

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sean Campbell
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Team Fairchild conducted an emergency management exercise to demonstrate the capabilities of the base during an emergency situation Sept. 27.

This exercise involved a simulated overturned tractor trailer that crashed into a building injuring several people and causing a simulated HAZMAT leak on the base.

“Emergency management exercises provide realistic scenarios allowing our Airmen the opportunity to work together as a team, validate multiple-agency processes/procedures as well as identify areas in which we may need additional training,” said Chief Master Sgt. Shannon Rix, 92nd Air Refueling Wing command chief. “The experience gained and lessons learned during exercises better prepares Team Fairchild to respond effectively during an actual real-world emergency.”

According to Master Sgt. Joshua Berger, 92nd Air Refueling Wing inspector general, exercises are important for the base because they allow members to see where improvements should be made on base capabilities. Continuing to do these exercises ensures Fairchild is prepared to handle any real world situations that may occur.

"Participating in the exercise helps medical use the skills that we don’t normally use when working in the clinic,” said Senior Airman Julie Fink, 92nd Medical Operations Squadron aerospace medical technician. “It's great to get hands-on experience when dealing with things we don’t normally see. After finishing with these types of exercises, we can all come together to brief on what happened and what we can do to make operations go smoother in the future. This helps us build a relationship with different squadrons when responding to incidents. We all have different goals to accomplish during an exercise and we all have to work together to get the best outcome possible."

Making the exercises as realistic as possible is a goal of Fairchild’s IGI office. This includes meetings, coordinating between base agencies, script building, developing each part of the exercise and working with subject matter experts throughout the base to ensure that the exercise is as close to a real situation as possible.

Planning involved input from various base units to include both IGI teams from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing and 141st ARW, 18 subject matter experts from diverse job specialties, 30 Wing Inspection Team members and 14 actors from the 92nd ARW and 141st ARW.

“Overall the exercise was a great success,” Berger said . “It showed the areas that we need to improve, any gaps in communication, possible new procedures to institute, how well we find quick solutions on the spot to issues, and last but not least, it also showed just how well we all work together as a team during an incident.”