From September 19 – 22, the 73rd Civil Support Team (CST) will be coming to the Hutchinson area to conduct training in conjunction with the Hutchinson Fire department.

The training will focus on the mitigation of weapons of mass destruction and other man made or natural incidents involving nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) agents.

The training will primarily involve working with elements of the Fire Department’s Hazmat team who’ll be the first responders on the ground in almost any NBC incident in the Hutchinson area.

The CST will also be conducting a meet and greet and several briefings with the Fire Department at large, with the intent of familiarizing local firefighters with the mission and capabilities of the CST.

The highlight of the training will be a pair of joint exercises in which the CST will train with the Fire Department on responding to a simulated NBC type incident. The object of the training is to make the scenario as realistic as possible for both organizations. Members of both the CST and the Fire Department will be making entry into simulated Hazardous environments wearing encapsulating, “level A,” protective equipment and using an impressive array of sensors and other high tech equipment.

Though it can really look like something out of a disaster movie, rest assured, if should you stumble across one of the training locations, there’s no danger of any kind of contamination or health risk due to exposure amongst Fire Fighters, CST Members or the General Public.

The 73rd Civil Support Team is a unit of the Kansas National Guard made up entirely of full time members of the Kansas Army and Air National Guard. The mission of the Civil Support Team is to Support local authorities and first responders in dealing with and mitigating any NBC incidents involving the use of Weapons of Mass destruction or other man made or natural disasters.

The role of a Civil Support team is to assist and advise the incident commander when the response to an NBC incident exceeds the capabilities of local first responders.

In Kansas, the CST has never assumed command of an incident, but works in support of the local authorities in order to protect the health and property of the citizens of Kansas. The 73rd is stationed in Topeka, but conducts training in communities across the state.

According to the Commander of the 73rd, LTC Dirk A. Christian, this affords the CST the opportunity to work with local fire departments, learn how they conduct business and become familiar with the lay of the land so that if a real world response is needed “we won’t be meeting for the first time at the scene of a disaster.”

Another benefit is that the CST provides opportunities for training of local first responders improving their NBC response skills and capabilities, but this is not a one way street, the CST had also learned a great deal through fostering good working relations with local first responders. “The CST is the insurance policy we hope we never have to use” says the CST commander but if needed, training events like this ensures that the CST and the Fire Department and prepared to provide the people of Hutchinson and Kansas at large with some of the best response capabilities available anywhere.

Though the CST primary mission is to support local authorities and organizations, ironically, the CST has been the recipient of tremendous support from the Hutchinson fire Department.

According to the Deputy Commander of the 73rd CST, “the willingness of the Hutchinson fire Department to train with us is an invaluable asset in providing for an effective first response for the people of Hutchinson.