Bob Kenyon – K8LJ
During
the last several net sessions, we have been discussing our need to learn more
about HazMat, since Rod Cook, the E.D. of the Red Cross informed us that this type
of incident was his greatest fear. While none of us is normally expected to be
a first responder or someone responsible for identifying and cleaning up an
incident, the more we become familiar with the terms, abbreviations, acronyms,
etc., the more effective communicators we will be. Try communicating a message
from point A to point B that was in German, Russian or some other language.
Unless you had at least a modest familiarity with the other language it would
be quite difficult and likely very inefficient and error prone. While this is
an extreme example just to make a point, even messages in English often deal
with what I will refer to as an “internal language” associated with the subject
matter. Let’s relate that to HazMat: For example, what is a “TIM”? And
referring to the latter, what do Hazard Zones A, B, C & D designate? Which
is more severe, A or D? What does “WRM” signify? And so on…. Having some familiarity with terms such as
these will make each of us a better communicator during an incident. For answers, you can refer to the first few
pages of the Emergency
Response Guidebook, published by the U.S DOT, which can be found here:
http://hazmat.dot.gov/pubs/erg/erg2004.pdf
The
Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG2004) was developed jointly by the US
Department of Transportation, Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of
Communications and Transportation of Mexico (SCT) for use by firefighters,
police, and other emergency services personnel who may be the first to arrive
at the scene of a transportation incident involving a hazardous material. It is
primarily a guide to aid first responders in (1) quickly identifying the
specific or generic classification of the material(s) involved in the incident,
and (2) protecting themselves and the general public during this initial
response phase of the incident. The ERG is updated every three to four years to
accommodate new products and technology. The next version is scheduled for
2008.
DOT's
goal is to place one ERG2004 in each emergency service vehicle, nationwide,
through distribution to state and local public safety authorities. To date,
nearly nine million copies have been distributed without charge to the
emergency responder community. (Hopefully there is already a copious number
present in Licking County, but I don’t know the status of this – K8LJ).
The
ERG is a large document – about 2.8M in PDF format. It’s 374 pages in length
and not something you will ever read in its entirety. But it is worth perusing,
at least once. It contains about 140 pages, with about 60 per page, of uniquely
classified hazardous materials – over 8000 in all. It also contains other useful information that can enhance our
knowledge base and enhance our value to our served agencies. You don’t need a
hard copy, certainly not one to weigh down your Go-Kit. But at least, be aware
of it, record the URL and bookmark it so you can reference it if ever needed.
While
I have focused on the communications aspect in this training tip, there is
another, and potentially even more important reason for becoming more HazMat
literate, at least for some instances. That relates to safety. While not
official first responders, any one of us could be one of the first on the scene
of an incident, depending on where it happened and our location at the time. So
in addition to effective communications, our HazMat knowledge could be crucial
to our own personal safety as well as that of others, until the proper
personnel arrived on the scene.
On
Wednesday, 4-18, Rod Cook will join us on the net and provide his prospective
on HazMat preparedness and what we can do to better assist his agency.