Emergency Response To Hazardous Material Incidents (165.15)

Course Description
This 5-day course provides emergency response personnel, primarily firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical services personnel, with the information and skills needed to recognize, evaluate, and control an incident involving the release or potential release of hazardous materials. It is intended for response personnel who are currently on, or planning to join a hazardous materials response team.

The focus of the course is on recognizing and evaluating a hazardous materials incident, organizing the response team, protecting response personnel, identifying and using response resources, implementing basic control measures, refining decision-making skills, and protecting the public. Firefighting/EMS techniques are not part of the course.

Topics that are discussed include safety plans and standard operating procedures, characteristics of hazardous materials, toxicology, information resources, identification of hazardous materials, incident command for hazardous materials, size-up strategy and tactics, containment and confinement of materials, levels of protection, chemical protective clothing, direct-reading instruments, and decontamination.

Instructional methods used are lectures, class problem-solving sessions, and exercises. Emphasis is on the hands-on use of equipment to practically apply lecture information. Class members will participate in two simulations designed to apply and test the lessons learned during the week. Participants will wear self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) fully encapsulating suits and chemical splash suits. Individuals who are not participating in a respiratory protection and medical surveillance program should contact Registration and their employer prior to attending this course.

After completing the course, participants will be able to:

• Select the appropriate personal protective equipment for responding to an incident involving hazardous materials.
• Use combustible gas detectors, oxygen meters, and detector tubes to evaluate the hazards present at a hazardous materials incident.
• Use confinement and containment techniques to control the release of a hazardous material.
• Identify the importance of an incident command system for effectively managing an incident involving hazardous materials.
• Develop procedures for the decontamination of emergency response personnel.
• Use size-up techniques to develop strategies and select the appropriate tactics for mitigating hazardous material incidents.

 

Individuals who respond to hazardous material incidents should meet the minimum requirement set forth under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(6)(iii). Individuals should have awareness and operations level training prior to attending this course.

NOTE: A medical evaluation in accordance with the Respiratory Protection Standard, 29 CFR 1910.134 is necessary in order to attend this course. Each student must include with their registration a letter from their supervisor or a copy of a medical certificate that clearly states that a medical evaluation has been completed and that the student is medically able to wear respiratory protection equipment. This must be received at least 5 weeks prior to the course start date. Registration will not be complete, nor will confirmation be sent, until such proof is received by the ERTP Registrar. If registration is done on-line, fax a copy of the document to the ERTP Registrar at 513-251-4137.

Note: This course meets and exceeds the minimum OSHA requirements of 24 hours of training for a hazardous materials technician.

CEU        4.1
ABIH       4.5