OPCW announces all declared chemical weapons are destroyed

On July 7, the OPCW announced that the last of the worlds declared chemical weapons had been destroyed.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirms that the last chemical weapon from the stockpiles declared by all States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was verified as destroyed.

This has been a long time in the coming. The international ratification process that created the OPCW began in 1992.

My personal interest is that I took a TERT course in Anniston Alabama about 20 years ago. That four-day course includes a "Cobra Alley" exercise where we donned PPT and trained in VX and Sarin atmospheres. Since that training is still offered, they (CDP) must be using a substitute or are taking advantage on this exception (paragraph 9b of the OPCW definition of "chemical weapon"):

“Purposes Not Prohibited Under this Convention” means: (b) Protective purposes, namely those purposes directly related to protection against toxic chemicals and to protection against chemical weapons;

.Scott said:

TL;DR Summary: The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirms that the last chemical weapon from the stockpiles declared by all States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was verified as destroyed.

My personal interest is that I took a TERT course in Anniston Alabama about 20 years ago. That four-day course includes a "Cobra Alley" exercise where we donned PPT and trained in VX and Sarin atmospheres.

What level of PPE did you don for that training? How long were you in it? The higher levels are pretty uncomfortable, IMO...


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When we were working in the VX and Sarin environment, it was Level A. We were in it for about an hour - so we had appropriate SCBA tanks. The level A was clumsy, but not uncomfortable. We suited up in one area; walked to the Sarin room, boiled some Sarin and tested for it; walked into the VX room and did the same; walked into a incident exercise room where we failed to find the simulated survivors; and finally walked through several washing/rinsing stages to get our suits off. But this was all done is an air-conditioned facility - so there was no discomfort.

On an earlier day, we used Level B suits to practice hot zone triage, victim decontamination, and technical decontamination. That was done in a large empty parking lot. Unlike my fellow Pelham, NH CERT members, I had opted to take the training in January (not September), so the temperatures on that Alabama parking lot were temperate - and not too uncomfortable.

For the outdoor exercise, perhaps one measure of "comfort" would be the blood pressure readings. Two readings were taken, one before we donned the equipment and one after we doffed them. My blood pressure went down - although everyone else's went up.

.Scott said:

For the outdoor exercise, perhaps one measure of "comfort" would be the blood pressure readings. Two readings were taken, one before we donned the equipment and one after we doffed them. My blood pressure went down - although everyone else's went up.

Interesting. Do you remember what your heart rate did for those two different BP measurements?

berkeman said:

Interesting. Do you remember what your heart rate did for those two different BP measurements?

For the Class B:
I am guessing they must have recorded heart rates too - but I don't remember.
People were glad when everything ended and the suits came off. They were tired, but I don't think "exhausted".

For the Class A:
They also took BP before (but not after) the Sarin/Vx visits. As I recall, a high BP could have interfered with the antidote injection (which we never needed).
I was the only SW engineer among a group of firemen, police and such. So there a couple of difference in my experience. First, I was named one of the leaders (?!?) - apparently because I aced the written test that they gave us when we first showed up there. That test was based entirely on the material they told us to study.
Second, my assessment of their safety protocols made me very comfortable. There was no chance that any of us were going to die - even if someone wanted to. So I was quite relaxed - not at all the normal reaction.