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 Hawaii search and extraction team trains for disaster By Spc. Joanna Amberger
                117th MPAD, Hawaii Army National Guard
 The Hawaii National Guard sent 65 Soldiers and Airmen to Reno, Nev., for Vigilant Guard. Hawaii's rapid response team, CERF (Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear and Explosive Enhanced Response Force), rallied at the site of a collapsed school and each of the team's four elements immediately began operations. One of only 17 such units in the United States, CERF is a new disaster response element of the Hawaii National Guard, according to Army Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Borton, CERF Logistics NCO. CERF is comprised of Soldiers and Airmen from a variety of different units specially trained and equipped to support civil authorities during a disaster. Each CERF team is designed to be fully deployable within six hours, with four functional elements: command and control, search and extraction, decontamination, and medical. "Our mission was to conduct collapsed structure search and recovery and to support civil authorities with medical triage. We also had a command and control unit monitoring the situation and a communications package as well," said Army Capt. Aaron Blanchard, CERF operations officer. Soldiers from the Hawaii Army National Guard, 230th Engineer Company and the 297th Firefighting Detachment, outfitted in gear designed to protect them from the toxic gases and falling debris within the pile, crawled through the tight spaces of the demolished building looking for victims trapped inside. If no passage to those trapped inside could be found, the Soldiers created passages by breaking through the tangled concrete. Once a victim had been located, the rescuers carefully extracted the person from the debris using ropes, pulley systems and sheer will power. "We're trying to get ready just in case something happens back home. When that really does happen, we know we are ready for it. We know how it feels to work for 12 to 18 hour shifts," said Army Spc. Troy Torres, CERF search and extraction team member from the HIARNG 230th Engineer Company, Detachment 1. "This was my first time in a real life scenario. Before, we trained with just a dummy," Torres continued. "We had five or six people hauling both the victim and the rescuer out of the pile. I was the biggest guy and I couldn't do it myself. It takes the whole team to work as one so everyone will be safe and secure, and everybody goes home alive." Once pulled from the wreckage, Airmen from the Hawaii Air National Guard, 154th Medical Group, then provided triage and emergency medical treatment to the wounded. When stabilized, the Airmen prepared the victims for evacuation to nearby hospitals. Soldiers from 103rd Troop Command commanded CERF operations at the site, ensuring that search, extraction and medical efforts were properly coordinated with other units operating at the site. The National Guard Communications Element, comprised of Airmen from the 293rd Combat Communications Squadron and Soldiers from the deputy chief of staff Information Management, supplied on-site satellite and radio communications support. Following the joint field exercise, the CERF team conducted individual skills training. The medical element implemented intensive classroom training, and the search and extraction element utilized the Carson City Fire Department training site to further refine mission critical skills. "On the first day we focused on high angle rescue," said Blanchard of the search and extraction element training. "High angle rescue is a rescue done from greater than a 45 degree angle, such as a cliff or a building, where the rescuer needs to move to the victim's location, package them up and move them to safety." "The second day we focused on shoring," Blanchard continued. "Shoring stabilizes an unstable structure. We teach our guys how to do calculations to figure out how much weight they are looking at. They know the particular limitations of the type of shore they are putting in, and then they can calculate the amount of shoring they are going to need to brace a structure so that they can make sure they can safely enter to do a search." The search and extraction team and medical team concluded with a joint training exercise. Soldiers from the search and extraction team demonstrated high angle rescue techniques, taught rope classes and operated a rappel tower. Medics participated in a rescue exercise, practiced tying knots and rigging, and ended training by rappelling down a six-story building. "What was important about the work we did here was the way we executed the mission. We received the request for help and hit the ground running without any break in between. That's exactly how we are going to do it in a real world emergency," said Blanchard, emphasizing the dedication of his team. "They have been working long hours each day, but they have executed this mission well and represented the state of Hawaii. I look forward to working with these great Americans in the future."
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