CIVILIAN COMPANIES TRAINING TO CLEAN-UP BIRD FLU, BIOTERRORISM AND MORE

Most people think that the government provides clean up or decontamination services for properties that have been contaminated by such things as bloody crime scenes, meth labs, norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships, anthrax in post offices, or even avian influenza aboard aircraft or other venues. They would be wrong. It is being provided by an emerging private industry that ten years ago was virtually unheard of. With the growth of the industry, so grows the need for special training.

The National Institute of Decontamination Specialists (NIDS) is a training center located in Greenville South Carolina that specializes in teaching a new breed of technician to handle a new generation of hazards. Entering the school, one will find Hollywood-like sets depicting a meth lab in a home kitchen, a homicide in a vehicle, a disease-contaminated hospital emergency room, and more. All are busily attended by groups of technicians in “Moon Suits” reminiscent of a scene from the movie “ET”.

Kent Berg, the director of NIDS explains the need for the institute. “Today is a new era. Violence in the world is escalating. Terrorism, once confined to the Middle East, is now on our doorstep. The threat of dirty bombs, nuclear weapons, and suicide bombers regularly make the evening news. New diseases are emerging and old diseases are re-emerging or mutating faster than ever before. Drug-resistant bacteria are plaguing our healthcare facilities. Outbreaks of diseases from foreign countries are being brought to our neighborhoods by way of international travel. In our own cities and towns, crime scene cleanup, meth lab decon and mold remediation are in high demand. All of these situations have a common need for properly trained specialists to decontaminate the affected venues.” Where will these qualified specialists come from? Many will come from NIDS.
www.nidstraining.com