When firefighters responded to a garage fire this past September, they realized they were dealing with what had been a methamphetamine lab.
"When the engine arrived they saw a red haze everywhere, and after knocking down one of the outer walls, realized that they were dealing with an illegal hazmat situation," said Lt. Michael Brandon of the Louisville Metro Police. "The EMS unit that deals with hazmat situations was called and so was the police department, who in turn, called the DEA."
Officers arrived on the scene within minutes only to discover one badly burned and armed suspect emerging from the garage.
"The police went in, ordered this guy to the ground, and quickly began to wonder where the other suspects might be," Brandon said. "That?s when the MATT team was sent in."
MATT, or Medical Assistance and Tactical Team, is a new and unique unit based in the Louisville and the southern Indiana region designed to deal with an emergency medical situation with a tactical element that involves chemical, biological, or radiological materials.
"Based on the reports we received before arriving on the scene we were sure it was a meth lab and so we expected that we would be dealing with red phosphorous and other such chemicals," Brandon said.
In less than half an hour the team was assembled, geared up, and on the scene, performing the basic hazmat procedures.
"That's when we ran across the second guy after noticing some blood on the ground. He was also armed but not as badly burned, so we secured him, arrested him, got him de-conned, and then transported him off to the hospital," Brandon said. "Overall we were very happy with how the team had performed on its first run out."
MATT is the brainchild of Dr. William A. Smock, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Louisville and member of the Kentucky law enforcement community. According to Smock, the idea for the unit was developed over a three year period in response to the increasing level of national concern over the potential for another terrorist attack within U.S. borders.
"The idea for the unit came from the realization that, at the local level, neither the CDC nor a SWAT team were properly trained to deal with a tactical biological threat," Smock said. "The need to integrate the protection of public health and tactical law enforcement while pulling together all of the specialties of the various existing agencies was becoming increasingly clear."
One of the key realizations by Smock early on in the process of forming MATT was that it would be necessary for the team members to be deputized into the U.S. Marshal's Service so as to allow the unit the ability to respond to any incident at the state and federal level properly armed and equipped.
"The real beauty of this unit is that everyone comes together to the table during a situation response as equals," said U.S. Deputy Marshal Rich Knighten. "We all work as a team to attack one type of enemy and to respond to one type incident. We're here to save peoples live with that mission in mind. That's why we are so effective."
The team is comprised of 45 law enforcement, medical, and public health officers. Both Smock and Knighten are founding members of the team and were on the scene of the meth lab explosion in September. Smock, in particular, is a strong representative of the multi-faceted law enforcement culture of the team. He is a fulltime emergency room physician in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Louisville Hospital, a police surgeon in the Louisville Metro police department, an EMS responder and SWAT team member in Floyd County, IN, and a sworn special deputy U.S. Marshal. With the membership on the team of Knighten and Federal Protective Agency officer Kevin Combs the unit has gained recognition and praise from the Department of Homeland Security.
That praise has recently been translated into funding for the MATT project as $400,000 of the $8 million given to the Louisville Metro Crime Commission by the Homeland Security Department was awarded to the unit this year.
"Each agency within the Louisville area that contributes to the team is funding the personnel that they supply," Smock said. "It's our hope that there will be continued funding for the MATT unit throughout the state."
"The funding will eventually allow for each and every individual officer on the team to have their own car load of equipment," Knighten said. "Ideally they will arrive at the scene with all their gear, and there will be no more waiting for the truck to show up like we do now. The response will be much like that of a typical SWAT response. All of the special equipment will come in a larger vehicle."
"The Homeland Security Department is very excited about MATT since there seems to be no other team like it in the nation," Smock said. "Our goal is to create the materials and provide a model so that any other city in the U.S. can create something similar."
As it stands right now, MATT is designed to deal with three specific areas or scenarios at the local and regional level.
"The first is the human or biological vector which would come into play for example, when a person with a disease traveling by airplane into the country is infected with a highly contagious disease or self-infects as part of biological terrorist attack," Smock said. "The second area is dealing with the question of who is going to enforce a court order of isolation or quarantine of a highly infected individual or group of individuals. The CDC can make the determination that quarantine needs to be put in place, but they aren't trained to enforce the quarantine. Federal agencies like the FBI HMRU and FBI HMRI are trained to enforce and handle tactical situations, but aren't trained to quarantine the human biological vector. The last situation is a tactical hazmat situation at the local level such as the one we dealt with in Louisville."
Accordingly, the training for the team is as multi-faceted as its philosophy.
"The initial training exercises centered on giving everyone background in hazmat and disease recognition," Brandon said. "We've also trained in chemical and radiological issues, self defense, and tactical maneuvering. Even the EMS officers have been receiving tactical training. Our goal is for every member of the team to be trained to be able to make a threat analysis upon arrival on the scene."
While still being streamlined, the command structure of the unit is reflective of its versatility, and, according to Knighten, will parallel that of a SWAT team.
"What happened in response to the meth lab explosion in September and what we expect to continue to happen is that the Deputy Chief of Police for Louisville, Philip Turner, and myself will respond to all situations and scenarios that may potentially require the MATT unit," Knighten said. "We will then make the determination as to whether or not we need to call in Bill [Smock] and, once he is on the scene, he determines where we deploy, how, and in what strength."
Individuals interested in learning more about MATT can contact Dr. William Smock at [email protected].
