Bomb technicians compete while learning valuable skills

May 27, 2011

a half dozen bomb squad technicians competed today at sandia national labs -- one from as far away as new jersey. they're here for some valuable training. crystal kobza has a look at what they're up to. six law enforcement teams-- ten challenging scenerios to figure out. the pressure is on for these bomb squads in this years robot rodeo. "a bomb tech can be faced with anything. and anything that we do affects the public because were keeping the public safe." it's considered a competition. but for these... it's more about being put in a challenging situation-- and learning how to handle it. "working together it really helps us throughout the jurisdiction of handling these types of calls." "the training is invaluable because it's a very perishable skill, if you don't use it, you loose it." to name a few situations the teams faced. in this one-- the robot was called in to search a makeshift home-- where a suspicious odor was reported. the robot is sent in--- instead of our men and women-- to inspect. and in this scenario, a tornado had damaged a nuclear plant. the robot being sent in to move simulated fuel rods and to stop the flow of radioactive water, running into a storm drain.. among other obstacles. "we want to in a safe training enviornment stretch them to their limits that if they get a real call, they might remember a scenario or event that we had at the rodeo that will make them think about, you know i know how to solve this problem." crystal kobza. kob eyewitness news 4.