Police in Bristol, England recently used chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) response training simulators from Argon Electronics for a hazardous material (HazMat) training exercise.
The exercise required participants to provide security for a half-marathon event. While the commanders were delivering their opening briefings, the simulated chemical agents were released.
“To the trainees listening, who may have been thinking ‘It’s only an exercise, they’ll start in a minute,’ the sudden sound of a hundred people screaming and the sight of smoke billowing out of the stadium soon woke them up,” Officer Paul Lacey from the Avon and Somerset Constabulary Police Headquarters said. “This realism was supported by the use of the Argon equipment because it enabled the trainees to start trying to locate the source immediately.”
The Police National CBRN Centre loaned the simulation equipment for use at the training event. The inventory included a range of training simulators, including Argon’s PlumeSIM system. The PlumeSIM allows a single instructor to organize simulated chemical and radiological releases across a large area as well as manage multiple trainees.
“People learn better from practical training and that’s why the simulators are so good,” Lacey said. “You’re training not only physically, but emotionally – gaining familiarity with the equipment and coping with the reactions to a frightening scene. Staging an exercise like this is the nearest we can get to reality. Nothing else we do can get close.”