LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The Las Vegas bomb squad is the only one of it’s kind in all of Southern Nevada.
With Las Vegas being an entertainment epicenter, keeping up with the technology to enhance safety is a must.
FOX5 visited the training center for the team, as chief Jamie Sypniewicz explains their game plan as soon as a bomb related call comes in.
“So you have to imagine the adrenaline that we all receive as soon as a call comes in and it is such a impact to your system we get such an extreme adrenaline rush, we don’t know what we are going into.
However, what they do know is that safety is first no matter what.
“We have to stay on top of these times,” Sypniewicz said. “We go down range, and we are sweating in your bomb suit and now you can’t see and on TV they show you the red wire and blue wire and it is not like that- they are all black so we have to do our diagnostics and determine which one has the actual voltage and I keep going back to our training.”
The team of 13 goes through at least 24 hours of training a month.
However, before they go anywhere near a potentially harmful device or package they have to suit up.
Chief Sypniewicz put FOX5 Victoria Saha through exactly what it takes to gear up. Their gear weighs up to 100 pounds.
“If we are going on a true legit bomb call this is what we would wear,” Sypniewicz said.
Next, they showed us how their digital x-ray machine worked.
This allows the team to scan a device or package without having to open it to see what is inside.
Sometimes this is done through a robot, but in certain circumstances a bomb technician will have to go and place the machine by the device.
“We would rather send the robot down than you,” Sypniewicz said.
Sypniewicz said training is vital and every tragedy is a reminder, that they can never be too careful.
The fatal explosion in Los Angeles, where three deputies died is a reminder of that.
“It is difficult, whether we know the details or not we learned from it. We are training, we trained on those exact devices that they potentially had and we all learn from the mistakes that our brothers and sisters make and the unfortunate events whether it was a mistake or not,” Sypniewicz said.
Have a story idea or tip? You can reach reporter Victoria Saha at [email protected]m
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