Texas State Technical College conducted a makeshift hazardous waste emergency at their Breckenridge campus earlier this week.
The exercise was part of a 40-hour hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER) technical certification.
It's part of the school's environmental science technology program.
Students staged what seemed like a real-life emergency.
"They have no idea of what they're going to roll up on," says TSTC student Dena Craighead. "All they can do is just react when they get here."
Dena Craighead worked with other students to design this hazardous material scenario.
"Pretty nerve wracking but we've got a great group of guys and they all know their parts," says fellow student Kendall Brown.
Student technicians then suit up and respond as if it were a real-world event with the danger of chemical exposure.
"Supposedly I'm allergic to a pesticide that was in the hose, and I had no idea that there was a pesticide in there," said John Nored, who played the role of the victim. "My character, I'm supposed to have difficulty breathing."
"We asked him to just start out kind of mellow and then ramp it up a little bit," said Craighead. "That kind of increases the stress level."
After moving john from the makeshift area of exposure, the team worked quickly to stop the leak.
It all took less than 15 minutes but provided invaluable real-life experience.
"Although we have the opportunity to do the bookwork, the hands on experience is what defines our skills when we graduate the course," Craighead says.
Other agencies involved in the mock incident included the Stephens County Sheriff's Department, Stephens County EMS, and the Texas Department of Transportation.
The exercise was part of a 40-hour hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER) technical certification.
It's part of the school's environmental science technology program.
Students staged what seemed like a real-life emergency.
"They have no idea of what they're going to roll up on," says TSTC student Dena Craighead. "All they can do is just react when they get here."
Dena Craighead worked with other students to design this hazardous material scenario.
"Pretty nerve wracking but we've got a great group of guys and they all know their parts," says fellow student Kendall Brown.
Student technicians then suit up and respond as if it were a real-world event with the danger of chemical exposure.
"Supposedly I'm allergic to a pesticide that was in the hose, and I had no idea that there was a pesticide in there," said John Nored, who played the role of the victim. "My character, I'm supposed to have difficulty breathing."
"We asked him to just start out kind of mellow and then ramp it up a little bit," said Craighead. "That kind of increases the stress level."
After moving john from the makeshift area of exposure, the team worked quickly to stop the leak.
It all took less than 15 minutes but provided invaluable real-life experience.
"Although we have the opportunity to do the bookwork, the hands on experience is what defines our skills when we graduate the course," Craighead says.
Other agencies involved in the mock incident included the Stephens County Sheriff's Department, Stephens County EMS, and the Texas Department of Transportation.
