Welcome to the Hazardous Materials/WMD re-certification for 2020

Background

The actions of MCFRS regarding hazardous materials response is guided by Code of Federal Regulations Title 29 (OSHA) Part 1910.120 -Hazardous waste operations and response. Specifically, Part 1910.120(q) addresses an “Emergency response program to hazardous substance releases.” According to 1910.120(q), personnel trained to respond to hazardous materials emergencies are required to receive annual refresher training to maintain their competencies.

The minimum level of training for MCFRS personnel is Hazardous Materials-Operations Level, adhering to the training requirements of NFPA 472-Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents, or NFPA 1072-Standard for Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Emergency Response Personnel Professional Qualifications (December 2018 and after).

The objectives of this refresher training are to review the following items as they relate to hazardous materials/WMD response: Basic hazard and risk assessment techniques, PPE selection, basic terminology, initial response operations, basic decontamination. After a review of the material contained herein, personnel will be expected to take and pass an exam to an accuracy of at least 80%.

Scope of Practice

Minimum staffing-capable personnel may operate at the First Responder Operations level.

OSHA states that personnel operating at the operations level are those who:

“respond to releases or potential releases of hazardous substances as part of the initial response to the site for the purpose of protecting nearby persons, property, or the environment from the effects of the release. They are trained to respond in a defensive fashion without actually trying to stop the release. Their function is to contain the release from a safe distance, keep it from spreading, and prevent exposures. . .” (OSHA 1910.120(q)(6)(ii))

NFPA 472 Chapter 5 Competencies for Operations Level Responders states that an operation-level trained responder:

“. . . shall be that person who responds to hazardous materials/weapons of mass destruction (WMD) incidents for the purpose of protecting nearby persons, the environment, or property from the effects of the release.” (NFPA 472, 2018, sec. 5.1.1.1)

The NFPA 1072 competencies (Chapter 3) mirror those outlined above.

Definition of Hazardous

Hazardous materials and substances are defined in various ways, depending on which government agency, or commission, one is referring to. The U.S. EPA, OSHA, U.S. DOT, International Maritime Organization (IMO), and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission all have their own definitions which pertain to the specific activities they are charged with regulating and/or monitoring, but they generally attempt to keep their definitions aligned. For our purposes, we will use the NFPA definition of a hazardous material:

“Matter (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy that when released is capable of creating harm to people, the environment, and property, including weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as defined in 18 U.S. Code, Section 2332a, as well as any other criminal use of hazardous materials, such as illicit labs, environmental crimes, or industrial sabotage.” (National Fire Protection Association. (2018). Competence of responders to hazardous materials/weapons of mass destruction incidents. 2018 edition, page 472-12, section 3.3.32)

For our purposes in emergency response, note that the terms hazardous material and hazardous substance are often used interchangeably.

Terminology

If you have difficulty defining/understanding the following terminology-exposure, time/distance/shielding, cold/warm/hot zones, ERG, caution/warning/danger, corrosive, oxidizer, LEL, radioactive, evacuation-click here to view definitions/explanations. You may be tested on some terminology during this recert.

Tools

Initial Response

Just like every other call that has the potential to require a specialty team response, i.e. water, rail, collapse, trench, etc., personnel need to slow down and perform a thorough assessment of the factors leading up to the scene (weather, time of day, possible human population), then the scene itself (access, terrain, hazards, exposures), and use this information to perform a risk/benefit analysis and determine an action plan that can be clearly communicated to others on the call. Remember, per the NFPA 472 standard identified earlier, unless you're a hazmat technician, your job is to isolate the scene, and protect people, the environment, and property: Your job does not include controlling or stopping the source of the hazmat call.

Acceptable Risk

According to Policy and Procedure 24-01, Incident Response Policy, Appendix A, "MCFRS seeks to reduce the risks associated with any incident to the lowest achievable level without compromising the mission:

• We will extend calculated risk to save savable lives.
• We will accept limited risk to save savable property.
• We will not risk Firefighter lives for lives or property that cannot be saved.

Watch the following video, considering safe parking distances, scene security, isolation distances, evacuation, and page 4 of the 2016 ERG as you watch.

Watch the next video and come up with an action plan using the 2016 ERG, assuming it's a good day and you show up at the 1:00 minute mark with no placard or shipping paper information. What Guide page do you go to first? What is your immediate isolation distance? What other Guide page might be useful (and more restrictive on isolation distance) after you notice flammable substances coming from the cylinders? Would you go to Guide 116? Would you attempt to extinguish the fires? Take special note of the scenes at the 1:25 and 3:22 marks to see why isolation is important.

Decontamination

The general responsibilities of operations-level personnel include the performance of decontamination procedures, or "decon." Depending on the situation, personnel may be called upon to perform emergency, gross, and/or mass decon of victims and/or other personnel. Per NFPA 1072, the definitions of each are as follows:

• Emergency Decon - The process of immediately reducing contamination of individuals in potentially life-threatening situations with or without the formal establishment of a decontamination corridor;
• Gross Decon - A phase of the decontamination process where significant reduction of the amount of surface contamination takes place as soon as possible, most often accomplished by mechanical removal of the contaminant or initial rinsing from handheld hose lines, emergency showers, or other nearby sources of water;
• Mass Decon - The physical process of reducing or removing surface contaminants from large numbers of victims in potentially life-threatening situations in the fastest time possible.

Personnel should refer to the MCFRS Gross Decon Options guideline found here for further information.

Watch the following video that provides insight into the decon process, and visual examples of gross and technical decon.

Terrorism

Response to possible terrorism incidents should be treated as other calls with potential specialty response needed-slow, deliberate, thoughtful. When dispatched to calls of a suspicious nature or that you don't hear often, at high profile/value targets where high populations of people will be present or infrastructure hubs, such as malls, Metro stations, concert venues, filtration plants, power substations, you should be suspicious of possible terrorism. Terrorism is a criminal act, and law enforcement should be notified of any suspicious activity if they aren't already dispatched with you. You may click here to test your skills at identifying suspicious activity.

When personnel are suspicious of a possible terrorism incident, they may refer to pages 370-373 of the 2016 ERG for guidance. Personnel should review the several command action guidelines on response to terrorism incidents, found here.