Recently, Brigade 87 of the Chemical Corps hosted a refresher course for 120 mobile policemen of the Ministry of Public Security.
The course aimed to raise the trainees’ knowledge and do-it-yourself skills in responding to toxic chemicals, and radioactive incidents; mitigating the aftermath of natural disasters and conducting search and rescue missions; escaping from hazardous areas; providing first aid to victims; and using specialized equipment.
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Troops of Brigade 87 handle leak of toxic chemicals. |
Additionally, they also practiced their learnt skills in assumed scenarios close to reality, contributing to boosting coordination in this work between public security forces and the military.
Colonel Tran Van Manh, Deputy Political Commissar of Brigade 87, shared that the unit has partaken in a number of major projects such as remediating dioxin in Bien Hoa airbase and collecting CS tear gas (chemical formula C10H5CIN2) left from the war in Vietnam.
Recently, the unit has trained different forces on overcoming consequences of environmental incidents. These courses helped raise the public’s awareness of environmental protection, and prevent and reduce harmful effects of toxic chemicals on the environment and people’s health.
The Southeastern region has many industrial parks, posing risks of discharges of toxic chemicals and radioactive substances to the environment. In addition, many localities are contaminated with war-left unexploded ordnance (UXO). Hence, apart from their regular training and combat readiness missions, military units have actively drawn up their own plans to prevent and reduce aftermath of environmental incidents.
Notably, troops of the Ho Chi Minh City Military Command and Border Guard Command teamed up with functional forces to address an oil spill on the Long Tau River in the city’s Can Gio district caused by the sunken container vessel Vietsun Integrity. Chemical troops of the HCM City Military Command and Military Region 7 stamped out a fire at a chemical warehouse of Dragon Up International Commerce Co., Ltd. in the city’s Binh Tan district.
Senior Colonel Tu Minh Son, Chief of the Chemical Office of the Military Region 7 Command, underlined that the command regularly instructed its affiliated chemical and engineering units to work with local relevant forces to draw up close-to-reality plans in response to environmental incidents.
Meanwhile, engineering units paid due attention to UXO-polluted areas in the Southeastern region. They mobilized sufficient personnel and vehicles for UXO clearance, helping eliminate UXO in the localities.
Hoang Van Thuc, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Environment Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, underlined the important role of military units in addressing consequences of environmental incidents. He wanted that military units will further coordinate with functional agencies to better the work, contributing to protecting the safe and sound environment for local people.
Translated by Van Hieu