Posted on 12/21/2016 10:34:23 PM PST by BenLurkin
[H]undreds of Ohio emergency responders were exposed to a potentially fatal toxin while training at a FEMA facility in Alabama.
The federal agency released a statement Wednesday saying that they have received no reports of illness as a result of the ricin exposure.
Ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans that kills cells by preventing them from creating protein. Exposure to the toxin can lead to death.
(Excerpt) Read more at whio.com ...
Lord have Mercy.
RICIN??? Somebody, somewhere has made a colossal Eff-Up!!
“...were exposed to a potentially fatal toxin...”
That should probably read, “...were potentially exposed to a fatal toxin...”
Ricin is fatally toxic in minute quantities, with no real, practical cure. As no one is showing symptoms, they likely were not exposed.
Heck of a job Fugatee...
Seriously though; a minute amount of ricen can be lethal. So the "authorities" (Keystone Cops) had better get a handle on this very quickly.
Those FEMA camps coulda been lotsa fun. Put FEMA higher on Trump’s ToDo List.
From link: // Staff at the FEMA facility mistakenly purchased high-toxicity ricin that was used in nine training sessions beginning in 2011. //
Raises lots of questions, all of which boil down to: How the bloody heck does *that* happen?
Yup. The ricin was ordered for use on FEMA camp prisoners and must have gotten mistaken for BullEx when they pulled it from the warehouse.
Do I believe that the government has contingency plans for the rounding up and murdering millions of American citizens? You bet. Not even tinfoil.
First I’m seeing this, and not previously posted to FR according to keywords, but this came out nearly a week ago. Thanks for finding and posting.
thanks for the additional links.
The only reason to use ricin in a training scenario is when teaching responders how to use tests to detect biowarfare agents. Typically this training is done using inactive or less toxic versions of the agent. There are several sources for these but usually you have to be registered and approved to be able to order them. In this case someone either screwed up the what they were ordering or the shipper sent the wrong agent. Likely no one was injured because they were using the proper protective gear. Some of these responders train in “moon suits” where there is no chance of inhalation or ingestion.
EARLIEST MENTION: NOV 18 in Anniston AL local newspaper (FEMA facility location): http://www.annistonstar.com/news/anniston/officials-say-cdp-trainees-practiced-with-live-toxin-because-of/article_5a525f76-adfb-11e6-9cf2-d31e13130638.html
Then ... no coverage that I can find until a week ago, w/USA TODAY breaking and investigating.
There are two issues:
1) the outrage of this happening, and *not being noticed upon delivery* or for FIVE (5)+ years (redundant checks are SOP; how many people failed?) —> NOT an accident they have it. Therefore, whistleblower?
2) lack of coverage of such a momentous story until past week (including, it seems in alt media): Has anyone seen this FEMA / ricin story before now? It wasn’t posted here that I can see. Shouldn’t it be on Drudge?
USA Today got broke this nationally, as far as I can see, AND to their credit, sleuthed for background info http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/12/15/emergency-responders-mistakenly-exposed-deadly-ricin/95481004/ :
snip: // Neither the CDC nor FEMA would name the vendor that supplied the ricin to the training facility when asked by The Anniston Star, which first revealed the incident, nor to USA TODAY. USA TODAY determined through its reporting the vendor was Toxin Technology in Sarasota, Fla.
Information provided to USA TODAY by officials at Toxin Technology and the FEMA training center conflict in several ways and raise significant questions about how ricin materials were ordered and shipped over the years.
FEMA in its statements has repeatedly said the material mix-up was “due to an error by the supplier” and that the “intended use declaration” forms the training center submitted to the vendor specified the center was seeking “Ricin Chain A.” //
USA snip: // The training center says it submitted order forms asking for a type of ricin extract that is unlikely to cause serious harm. But officials from Toxin Technology, the Florida company that sent nine shipments to the center since 2011, told USA TODAY that its ricin products were all **accurately labeled as “RCA60”** – a scientific name for the whole ricin toxin, which can be deadly.
It’s unclear why training center staff didn’t recognize for years that they were working with a far more dangerous substance. There is no antidote to treat ricin poisoning.
After issuing repeated statements to USA TODAY since Monday solely blaming the vendor, on Thursday FEMA administrator W. Craig Fugate called for the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General to investigate. [heh. yeah.] //
ABC News Dec 16: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/training-center-mistakenly-exposed-students-deadly-ricin-44247537 said USA Today identified the vendor as Toxin Technology of Florida.
NY Daily News Dec 16: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/thousands-responders-exposed-deadly-ricin-training-article-1.2913287
FEMA Center for Domestic Preparedness, COBRA, Anniston, AL
Apparently, their equipment and training worked well against live agent.
This is good news once the screw up is fixed.
According to a friend who is employed at the Center for Domestic Preparedness, which is located on the former Fort McClellan, all first responders who attend training there do so utilizing multiple live agents (GB, VX, ricin, etc) in the COBRA (Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological) training facility. Students who trained with the agent were in full Level C personal protective equipment at all times when training with the agent. Additionally, operations were performed using appropriate safety equipment, and inside a Type II biosafety cabinet that provides engineering control of respiratory exposures.
Whaaa?? For real? Do we need FEMA? Really??
“According to a friend who is employed at the Center for Domestic Preparedness, which is located on the former Fort McClellan, all first responders who attend training there do so utilizing multiple live agents (GB, VX, ricin, etc) in the COBRA (Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological) training facility. Students who trained with the agent were in full Level C personal protective equipment at all times when training with the agent. Additionally, operations were performed using appropriate safety equipment, and inside a Type II biosafety cabinet that provides engineering control of respiratory exposures.”
Testing multiple select agents simultaneously is somewhat overkill since to my knowledge there have been no attacks using more than one threat agent. Doesnt mean it wont happen in the future though. That training sounds very hardcore but testing GB and VX in a BSL II cabinet is cheating :-).
Good work, cyn! Good questions too.
My first instinct is that FEMA is lying and the lab is not.
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