This past week I have been absent from classes at the U. The reason? My training as an Emergency Responder-technician level. It's a 40 hour class that covers everything from PPE (personal protective equipment) to Air monitoring, to the rules governing hazmat in general industry - namely one 20 CFR 1910.120, to the laws passed in our illustrious country such as CERCLA, SARA, RCRA, etc. No, I will not spell out said acronyms, look them up. Monday was all lecture, and as it was 95% review of what I've learned in the last year during my IH classes it was quite a challenge to stay alert to catch that nugget of information I may not have gleaned. Tuesday we got to move around some, and wednesday even more. Wednesday we practiced "Decon", or the process of un-messifying a person before they get out of their protective gear, so as not to re-messify their much more sensitive skin and lung bits once out of the 'hot zone'. So off we went to don our PPE, some in fully encapsulated level A - full hazmat suit, SCBA (read SCUBA for those of us needing to breath clean air on terra firma), and nonslip, chemical resistant boots; some in level B - tyvek (cool material, except that it doesn't breath, so you get really hot) suit, double gloves, same type of boots, full face respirator and that wonderful SCBA -and duct tape which plays the vital role of shutting up seams in the suit; there were level Cs - same as B but with an air purifying respirator instead of a cumbersome air tank on their back; and then some level Ds - those in normal work attire. We set up our scene, including make believe spill out of 5 gallon bucket. The scenario was those in level A went out to survey the scene, but were unable to fix said spill by themselves (our bucket was really a metaphor for something much bigger) so they call for help. Our backup team in B (who should have been in A but were playing in B for varieties (and material scarsity's sake) went in with tools to help. They contain said spill, and then head to decon, where those in C clean them with water and scrub brushes, and then get out of said suits.

Let me say, being scrubbed on whilst in (I was in B) clothes by others is an odd feeling, and makes you laugh. Getting out of your suit is also fun. Today there was a much smaller group of us, so we played in level A suits in the afternoon after spending the morning doing air monitoring labs. We had great fun. We played with an actual drum full of chemical (H2O) and patched a hole and then put it into a much bigger drum. The drum weighs about 200 lbs, and I think my partner and I were maybe 260 together, 300 if you add the tanks of air and suits which really only hinder...so maybe that is 220 as a negative effect? Anyway, we had trouble just tipping our leaking drum on it's side to get it into the nice bigger drum. But, we are stubborn, and we figured a way. After which, we all (mostly) had some air left, so we played catch in our level A's to get used to moving and trying to communicate. We did this til our warning bell went off indicating low air. Let me tell you, if you have never gone SCUBA diving or been in an SCBA, you probably won't be able to appreciate the anxiety of hearing that bell, feeling the vibration saying 'you have maybe 5 min of air left'. Recall than in a level A we are fully encapsulated, and the only way out is if someone else lets you out. Talk about trust. You put your arms up like you are under arrest, then grab your buddy and go to decon, hoping to have enough air left to make it though decon so you don't die of chemical exposure instead of lack of air. It's good to go through that warning bell situation in practice though...it can get the heart going, and it is good to know if you can handle that stress before there are chemicals added to the mixture.

Tomorrow is the last day of that class, and then I'm going to head back to GB with Katie and Chris for the weekend. I'm exhausted. I just finished my biostats online exam, I'm going to pack, read a bit, and go to bed. I'll probably sleep all the way home if I don't end up driving.