This document discusses protective equipment, local emergency response plans, and incident management for hazardous materials awareness. It provides details on different levels of protective equipment and suits, elements that should be included in local plans, communication procedures, and strategies for responding to hazardous materials incidents at the awareness level including establishing isolation zones and eliminating ignition sources.

1. Hazardous materials awareness
Chapters 4 and 5
Protective equipment
Command, safety and scene control

2. Protective equipment

3. Protective equipment
• Personnel need to be protected from the
hazards of the hazardous materials release.
• Structural firefighting turnouts provide very
little chemical protection.
• First responders should be aware of
chemical protective clothing and understand
its limitations.

4. Types of protective equipment
• Level A suits give high protection against
vapors, gas, mist, and particles for the
wearer and the SCBA
• Level B suits provide splash protection, and
is used with an SCBA
• Level C is a level B suit with a different
form of respiratory protection, like
respirators.

5. Types of protective equipment
• Level D protective equipment provides no
respiratory protection, and very little skin
protection. Work clothes, uniforms, and structural
turnouts are all considered to be level D
protection.
• Turnouts are not resistant to corrosives, not
airtight, and will not protect against vapors. They
may even soak up a hazardous substance.

6. High temperature protective
clothing

7. Protective breathing equipment

8. Command, safety and scene
control

9. Local emergency response plans
• A local plan must address the following
areas;
– Hazmat facilities and methods of
transportation
– Methods of handling hazmat incidents
– Methods to warn people at risk
– Equipment and information resources

10. Local emergency response plans
(cont.)
– Evacuation plans
– Training of first responders
– Schedule for excercising the plan
• First responders should be familiar with the
plan, and know where to find it.
• Copies should be made for all first
responders.

11. Emergency information
management
• There are two types of communication
associated with hazmat emergencies
– External communications are the initial
dispatch and initial information
– Internal communications consist of
additional information that responders
gather after they have arrived on scene.

12. External communication data
• Location of incident
• Identity of material involved
• Approximate quantity of material
• Weather conditions at site
• Persons and areas threatened
• Events leading to incident
• Any control actions taken
• Type of assistance needed
• Responsible party and contact data

13. Internal communication data
• Upon finding that a hazmat incident is in progress,
first responders should ask for additional hazmat
response
• Additional radio channels will need to be assigned
• Whenever possible, on scene units need to talk
directly to technical specialists
• All information must also be shared with the
incident commander.

14. Mission of incident operations
for the awareness level
• Recognize the incident and implement sops
• Call for appropriate help to mitigate the
incident
• Secure the area and deny entry
• Survey the incident from a distance and
identify the material
• Determine appropriate actions as per the
dot erg guide

15. Incident management
• The incident command system should be
used to manage the incident, and should
include the following features;
– Common terminology
– Modular organization
– Integrated communications
– Unified command structure

16. Hazard assessment
• Based on an assessment of the situation, the
ic needs to develop an action plan based on
three strategic goals;
• Life safety
• Enviormental protection
• Property conservation

17. Modes of operation
• General classification of actions to be taken;
– Non-intervention
– Offensive
– Defensive

18. Non-intervention
• When to use;
– When hazards at site
are too great
– Beyond capability of
responders
– Explosions are
imminent
– Container damage
threatens a massive
release
• Involves the
following;
– Withdrawing to a safe
distance
– Report scene
conditions and control
scene
– Call for necessary
evacuations and call
for additional resources

19. Defensive
• When to use;
– When hazard type calls
for defensive actions
– When first responders
are trained and
equipped for defensive
hazmat operations
• Tasks needed;
– All of the same tasks
as non-interventioon
along with;
– Control material
spread by diverting to
a safe location
– Construct dikes and
dams
– Control ignition
sources

20. Offensive
• This is where responders take aggressive and
direct action with containers and equipment to
stop the release, stabilize and mitigate the incident
• Will result in contact with the material and will
require appropriate protective equipment
• This is beyond the scope of first responders and is
carried out by hazmat technicians

21. Determining levels of hazardous
materials incidents
• Level I incidents are the least serious , and within
the capabilities of the fire department. Gasoline
spill from a vehicle
• Level ii incidents are larger and may overwhelm
the local juristiction by size or material involved
drum of corrosives or overturned tanker
• Level iii incidents are on a disaster scale and will
involve help from many agencies, including the
state and/or federal goverment

22. Eliminating ignition sources
• Internal combustion engines
• Electric motors, switches and controls
• Lighting equipment
• Fuel powered equipment
• Open or pilot flames
• Electrostatic or frictional sparks
• Heated metal surfaces
• Fusees, flares,and lanterns
• Radios, hand lights,pagers and pass alarms

23. Establishing the initial isolation
distance
• Any material in the yellow or blue pages of
the dot erg guide that are highlighted are in
the green pages of isolation distances.
• These distances do not apply if the material
is on fire or has been leaking for more than
30 minutes
• Green pages also give protective action
distances for small and large spills

24. Controlling access to the initial
isolation zone
• Station a responder at approaches and deny
entry
• Activate local alarm devices
• Reroute traffic away from scene
• Put up physical barriers tape, rope,
barricades
• Transmit warnings over pa systems
• Use media to give warnings

25. Evacuees
• Need to be told nature of emergency, route
to proceed, and location of assembly area
• Evacuees may need to be decontaminated,
and triage may need to be performed.
• Record identification of those evacuated

26. Triage/treatment area
• Evacuees are brought here for assessment
and stabilization
• Responders should use caution with victims
when moving them from decon to triage in
case they have not been throughly
decontaminated
• Victims are then handed over to ems
personnel who have been trained in hazmat
response