The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1958-06-12
Maryland Foresters
Train For Rural
"Fallout'' Disaster

Strengthening Maryland's posi-
ton among leading states in train
ing organized forces for rural
atomic disaster defense and relief,
the forest fire fighting personnel
of the State Department of For
ests and Parks has just concluded
a three-day field exercise in the
detection and control of ionized
fallout from atomic explosions in
rural and forested areas.
The tests, conducted at the re-
quest of the Maryland State Civil
Defense agency, we're held June
3 to as part of the Forest de-
partments annual forest fire train
ing session.
Attending and participating we're
the specialized training team from
the state Civil Defense agency
headquarters at Pikesville, and
coordinating chemical and nuclear
safety specialists from Fort De-
trick, Fort Meade and the Second
Army headquarters.
This was the second nuclear
training exercise of statewide
Forest and Parks personnel and
the first statewide group in
Maryland, public or civilian, ex-
cept for the military and civil
defense organizations, to take
such training.
This years exercise, although it
did not use the small quantities
of radio active material that were
used last year, was more COM
prehensive in area covered and
detection requirements.
Detectives of this years test
we're first, to find the areas of
contamination, second to deter
mine the varying intensity of con-
tamination from ground zero to
outlying points, and third to
determine how long crews could
remain in the respective areas
for decontamination, fire control,
rescue or evacuation purposes. A
human body can tolerate only
about IS "Roentgens" of radiologi-
cal exposure per day.
This years exercise was "simu-
lated" over a siX-mile square area
of Swallow Falls State forest. 1t
assumed the dropping and eXplO-
sion of an atomic bomb at a
ground zero" point in or above
the forest. Nineteen theoretical fall
out points of varying degrees of
contamination, based upon practi-
cal experience in nuclear disasters,
we're staked out in the state for
est by the Civil Defense training
crew.
The problem for the foresters
was to find theoretically with
ion chamber recorders the pat
tern of spread by degrees of den
sity and estimate its progressive
decay" or dispersion. In the
simulated exercise these facts
we're marked as staked points
deep in the woods. They also
determined the areas too hot
for immediate rescue work, de-
termined from wind, decay rate
and other factors when they could
be entered, and noted and timed
the degree of exposure of workers
and residents in various sectors
of the hot" area so as to provide
for their timely withdrawal. Also,
each man carried ''dosimeter' to
keep account of his own total
exposure.
The military and Civil Defense
coordinators commented on the
favorable use of the long estab-
lished state forest agency's fire
fighting organization chart un-
der which every crew member
knows his job and knows the boss
to whom he reports, and every
member is trained and has eX-
perience for working along these
established lines in emergencies.
OF special service also was the
forest departments radio COM
munications system with its own
tWo-Way wave bands and radio
equipped vehicles and facilities.