Germ-Fighting Training Center Celebrates Milestone

July 15, 2015 - The National Institute of Decontamination Specialists has a lot to be proud of. First, it is celebrating its tenth year of producing some of the most highly trained specialty decontamination and disinfection technicians in the world, and second, for being recognized this year by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for its Crime Scene Cleanup and Ebola training programs.

Most people think that the government cleans up or decontaminates properties that have been contaminated by such things as bloody crime scenes, meth labs, norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships, anthrax in post offices, and more. In reality, these services are being provided by an emerging private industry that twenty years ago was virtually unheard of. With the growth of the industry, so grows the need to establish standards through quality training.

For the past ten years, the National Institute of Decontamination Specialists (NIDS) located in Greenville South Carolina, has been producing a new breed of technician to handle this new generation of hazards. Students come from as far away as Australia to attend their classes. Entering the school, one will find Hollywood-like sets depicting a meth lab in a home kitchen, a homicide in a bedroom, Ebola in an office, and more. All are busily attended by groups of technicians in biohazard suits reminiscent of a scene from the movie "Contagion".

Kent Berg, the director of NIDS explains the need for the institute. "Today is a new era. Drug-resistant bacteria are plaguing our healthcare facilities and communities. In our own cities and towns, crime scene cleanup, meth lab decon and disease outbreak control are in high demand. All of these situations have a common need for properly trained specialists to decontaminate the affected venues." Where do these qualified specialists come from? For the past decade, most have come from NIDS.