Federal Resources kicked off March Madness a little early, with a week-long custom training event for members of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Team, and local Indianapolis agencies on March 1-5, 2021. In preparation for this year’s NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament, hosted in the Indianapolis area, Federal Resources and their subject matter expert training team delivered custom hands-on equipment training on various meters/detection equipment, cumulating with a full-scale exercise.
To ensure the safety of those attending and playing in this year’s tournament, a primary focus of this training was on the below instruments, used to detect a wide-range of potential threats:
• FLIR IBAC2/Tetracore TCOR – Used to detect biological threats in the field
• FLIR identiFINDER R400 – Used to detect radiological agents
• MX908/Gemini – Used to identify unknown chemical hazards
• BTNX Test Strips – Used to detect presence of fentanyl
• MultiRAE Pro – Handheld instruction used to monitor gas readings inside the various venues for potential dangerous, harmful, or malicious gases.
• AreaRAE Pro – Used to monitor gas readings outside the various venues for potential dangerous, harmful, or malicious gases.
• ProRAE Guardian – Software used to communicate real-time meter readings to an Incident Command/Emergency Operations Center, monitoring the entire event/location.
The final day of training was focused on implementing the knowledge gained on above instruments in a real-life response setting. This full-scale scenario began with monitoring the parking lot, where the team encountered a vehicle containing a simulated “bad guy” who was found to have a suspicious product in his pocket. By using the R400, this product was determined to be a radioactive source. When continuing the search of his vehicle, a dispersal device was located. After being cleared by EOD, who confirmed it was not an explosive device, the response team brought in other detection equipment to determine the devices potential threat. Using the MX908, Gemini, and BTNX strips, it was determined that the devices contained fentanyl, with the intent to distribute as a chemical weapon. The exercise continued with the IBAC2/TCOR alerting for a possible biological agent and finishing with the AreaRAE Pro detecting a chlorine gas in the air surrounding the facility.
Thankfully, the above scenarios were just that - simulated scenarios. However, through the support of Federal Resources, the CWMD Team and surrounding agencies have the instruments and experience to ensure a safe, secure, and successful March Madness Tournament.
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