Intensive Training Under Scorching Heat: AFAD’s CBRN Teams in Diyarbakır
In Diyarbakır, the Ministry of Interior’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threat (CBRN) response teams are undergoing rigorous training in their heavy protective gear, even under the sweltering heat.
Thermometers often show temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in Diyarbakır. Despite this, the Provincial Disaster and Emergency Directorate’s Search and Rescue Unit teams continue their training without interruption.
These service-specific theoretical and practical trainings are meticulously planned to prepare the teams to perform in various disasters, including earthquakes, across the country, in addition to their designated responsibility areas.
For their pre-disaster preparation training, the teams don appropriate protective clothing and life-support systems compatible with the type and severity of the threat, enduring the blistering heat while training in gear that limits their mobility.
The training for AFAD teams against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, coded as “CBRN,” is implemented with the principles of “zero error” and “maximum capability.”
As part of a scenario involving a fire at a fuel station, the teams, equipped with their life-support systems and suitable clothing, were dispatched to the training area in special vehicles. Initially, they conducted a hazardous material scan with detectors and then collected samples from the area.
After cleansing with special decontaminating materials, the teams left the training area, successfully completing the exercise planned with a “zero error” principle against a potential CBRN leak.
The teams, continuously training to deliver maximum performance in the face of possible disasters, remain ready for duty at any moment.