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. . EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INCIDENTS. AWARENESS. WHAT IS ‘AWARENESS’ It’s About Safety. Basic Definitions Regulations and Standards ICS* Terminology Hazard and Risk Assessment Site Control SOG’s* SARA and ERP* Personal Protective Equipment. WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?.
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. . CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
EMERGENCY RESPONSETOHAZARDOUS MATERIALSINCIDENTS AWARENESS CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
WHAT IS ‘AWARENESS’It’s About Safety • Basic Definitions • Regulations and Standards • ICS* • Terminology • Hazard and Risk Assessment • Site Control • SOG’s* • SARA and ERP* • Personal Protective Equipment CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL? • We don’t do it all the time – so we need the practice • Many unpredictable elements = room for error • NFPA and OSHA agree that it’s a big deal CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
THE ROLE OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AT A HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INCIDENT IT’S THE SAME AS ANY OTHER CALL: Show up and do the best we can to save lives and protect property while ensuring that we all go home safe and sound afterward. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
DEFINITIONS FIRST RESPONDER- AWARENESS LEVEL • Responds to the Emergency • Recognizes the release as hazardous • Calls for Appropriate Resources • Assists with Intervention as Training Dictates CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
DEFINITIONS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS EMERGENCY • An occurrence that results, or is likely to result, in an uncontrolled release of a hazardous substance (OSHA 1910.120) CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
DEFINITIONS HAZARDOUS MATERIAL (EPA) • A material which, due to its concentration, quantity, or chemical or physical properties, may cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality, to an increase in serious, irreversible illness, or pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly managed. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
DEFINITIONS HAZARDOUS MATERIAL (Clear Creek) • Animal, vegetable, mineral, or chemical that could explode, catch fire, get on you and make you sick, or get on a fish or boreal toad and make him sick. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
HOW DO WE BECOME “AWARE” To become aware, one must educate ones-self on: • Identifying the substance • Keeping the substance at bay • Keeping the substance off of ones-self CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
HOW DO WE IDENTIFY THE ‘SUBSTANCE’? MANY BRILLIANT CHEMISTS, TOXICOLOGISTS, FIRE CHIEFS, AND TRUCK DRIVERS HAVE WORKED DILLIGENTLY FOR YEARS TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION AND THEY STILL DON’T AGREE CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
TWO MAIN I.D. METHODS • NFPA 704 • DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
NFPA 704 (the DIAMOND) • HEALTH HAZARD (BLUE) • FIRE HAZARD (RED) • REACTIVITY (YELLOW) • SPECIFIC HAZARD • Used on fixed facilities • Each Hazard gets a rating of 0 thru 4 • 4 is bad, 0 is good CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
DOT System (the ORANGE book) Transportation Based System (it’s the one you see on trucks) • The PLACARD is the key • Look for the PLACARD on the truck, then look for the NUMBER on the placard. • If you find the NUMBER, look up the NUMBER on the YELLOW PAGES. • The YELLOW PAGES tell you What the material is and Which GUIDE NO. to find in the ORANGE PAGES. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
DOT GUIDEBOOK • If we can’t find the NUMBER, try looking for the NAME of the material on the shipping papers. • If you find the NAME, look it up in the BLUE PAGES. • The BLUE PAGES tell you Which Guide No. to look up in the ORANGE PAGES. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
DOT GUIDEBOOK The ORANGE PAGES • Potential Hazards • Safety Precautions • Emergency Response CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
No Name or #? No Problem! We can still use the ORANGE BOOK Turn to GUIDE 111 in the ORANGE PAGES CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
What does the truck look like? No Name or #? No Problem! MC312 MC307 MC306 MC331 MC312 MC306 CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
THE HAZARDS OF HAZMAT ROUTES OF EXPOSURE • INHALATION (Breath it in) • ABSORPTION (Get it on ya’) • INGESTION (You eat it) CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
HAZARDS OF HAZMAT YOU MAY ASK: What Happens if I Eat It, Breath It, or Get It On Me? The answer is: THAT DEPENDS It depends on What, Who, Where, and How Much! CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
HAZARDS OF HAZMAT Ultimately ingestion, absorption, or inhalation of a hazardous material can affect your body at the cellular level (you know, the ‘cell’, as in the basic element of life) It may be skin cells, blood cells, or the cells in your kidneys. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
HAZARDS OF HAZMAT The key to minimizing the effects of hazardous material exposure is to avoid exposure in the first place. We do that by: • Assessing our risks and hazards • Controlling the scene • Wearing proper protective equipment CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
HAZARD AND RISK ASSESSMENT-’D.E.C.I.D.E. DETECT the presence of hazardous mat. ESTIMATE the likely harm w/o intervention CHOOSE the appropriate response objective IDENTIFY options DO the best option EVALUATE and re-evaluate progress CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
HAZARD AND RISK ASSESSMENT – Things to Consider • Where is the spill? • Where is the spill headed? • What is the material? • What are the hazards to responders? CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
SITE CONTROL OBJECTIVES • Minimize chaos (and there will be chaos) • Provide direction and efficiency • Provide for accountability • Prevent harm • Prevent/minimize contamination CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
SITE CONTROL • START OUT WITH A BIG PERIMETER – YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE IT SMALLER LATER • SET UP YOUR ZONES EARLY (WHAT’S A ZONE?) CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
SITE CONTROL YOU KNOW – ZONES!!! • COLD ZONE (OR GREEN ZONE) • WARM ZONE (OR YELLOW ZONE) • HOT ZONE (OR RED ZONE) CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
SITE CONTROL COLD ZONE (the place you should want to be) – no hazards WARM ZONE (the place nobody wants to be) – for contamination reduction HOT ZONE (where the action is) – highest level of PPE required CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
SITE CONTROL CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (A.K.A. PPE) So we don’t want to get it on us, eat it, or breath it – how do we “tame the beast”? We wear Personal Protective Equipment • Skin protection • Respiratory protection CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
PPE SKIN PROTECTION • Boots (turn-outs, Tyvek overshoes, chemical resistant boots) • Gloves (Fire, Latex, Nitrile, Butyl) • Clothing (turn-out gear, Tyvek, Saranex, or the Big Dog Level A suit) CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
PPE Respiratory Protection – 3 types • None (this is bad) • Air purifying respirator (APR) • Supplied Air (SCBA) In Clear Creek, we keep it simple: it’s SCBA or NOTHING CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
PPE ENSEMBLES (makes you think of Lt. Timmens, don’t it?) • Level D – The clothes you wore to class plus steel toed boots and a hard hat • Modified Level D – Your turn-out gear CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
PPE ENSEMBLES CONTINUED • LEVEL C – a Tyvek suit or turn-out gear with an APR (but we don’t have APRs, so… • Modified LEVEL C – same as above with SCBA • If you need respiratory protection, use an SCBA. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
PPE MORE ENSEMBLES • LEVEL B – Heavy duty non-encapsulating suit (like Saranex) plus SCBA • LEVEL A – Fully encapsulating suit plus SCBA and a whole lot of Gatorade CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
PPE WHEN DO WE USE WHAT ENSEMBLE? • Listen to someone who knows. • Use your reference materials (the little ORANGE book). • ERR on the side of caution CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER • Respond to the call – think ahead about staging, resources, hazards. • Size-up the scene. Give a good report. • Isolate the area • Identify hazards • Develop a plan • Initiate the plan using safe procedures and the right equipment • DON’T DRIVE THRU, WALK THRU OR PARK IN THE PRODUCT! CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES • Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs) exist for two purposes: • To Provide general information on department policies to personnel; and • To Provide basic guidance to department personnel regarding specific types of fire department operations. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
S.O.G. • Standard Operating Guidelines are not intended to address every situation. They are meant to be GUIDEANCE – to be adaptable to a variety of situations and circumstances. • They are another ‘tool in the toolbox’ CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
S.O.G. NO. 11OHAZMAT RESPONSE HIGHLIGHTS • Every incident presents the potential for exposure to hazardous materials and the products of combustion of an ordinary fire may present severe hazards to personnel safety. • Adequate situation evaluation is critical. If the wrong decision is made, personnel can easily become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
S.O.G. NO. 110 cont. • The first arriving unit will establish Command and begin a size-up. • The first unit must consciously avoid committing itself to a dangerous situation. • Establish staging for other responding units. • At all incidents involving hazardous materials, a Safety Sector will be established. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
S.O.G. NO. 111NATURAL GAS INCIDENTS HIGHLIGHTS • Natural gas is lighter than air and will dissipate rapidly outside. • Inside buildings it tends to pocket, particularly in attics and dead air spaces. • The flammable limits are approximately 3% to 15% in air. • Natural gas itself is non-toxic. It does, however, displace oxygen and can result in asphyxiation if in a confined space. • Flammable gas ranges and oxygen contents can only be determined by a combustible gas instrument. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
NATURAL GAS INCIDENTS • Burning natural gas should not normally be extinguished • Fires should be controlled by stopping the flow. • All personnel working in the vicinity of a known or suspected gas leak shall wear full protective clothing. • A safety perimeter shall be established and maintained around any suspected gas leak. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
S.O.G. NO. 112FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS INCIDENTS HIGHLIGHTS • Flammable liquids present particular problems for fire protection, health, safety, and environmental protection. • The principle agent for flammable liquid firefighting is AFFF/ATC (Aqueous Film Forming Foam/Alcohol Type Concentrate). Initial attack on any flammable liquid fire should be made with AFFF/ATC. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS INCIDENTS • Continuous monitoring with combustible gas meters is necessary to verify that vapors are being suppressed. • Keep the number of personnel that are working in the spill area to a minimum. • All personnel working around spills must wear full protective clothing (turnouts, SCBA) to afford protection in cases of ignition. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS INCIDENTS • Vapor areas can only be detected by the use of combustible gas indicators carried by Stations 2 and 4. • Cover spills immediately with AFFF/ATC to "seal" vapors. • Control ignition sources in the area of the spill. • Do not permit the flammable liquid to run-off into storm drains, sewers, or drainage systems. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
S.O.G. NO. 113CARBON MONOXIDE INCIDENTS HIGHLIGHTS • It is the policy of the Clear Creek Fire Authority that all personnel shall utilize self-contained breathing apparatus in atmospheres containing 35 parts per million or greater of carbon monoxide. • Carbon monoxide may be present for several different reasons: As a by-product of combustion, an emission from internal combustion engines, a chemical reaction, or a leak from an industrial process. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
CARBON MONOXIDE INCIDENTS • Carbon monoxide has approximately the same vapor density (weight) as air. When monitoring for CO, instruments do not have to be placed near the floor or ceiling for accurate readings. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
CARBON MONOXIDE INCIDENTS • An atmospheric concentration of CO that is below the TLV (50 ppm) does not always indicate an adequate level of oxygen. An atmosphere containing less that 19.5% oxygen requires the use of SCBA. • An atmospheric concentration of CO that is below the TLV does not always indicate that other toxic gases or products of combustion (particulate matter) are not present. • An atmospheric concentration of CO that is below the TLV with the presence of visible smoke particles still requires respiratory protection. • Positive pressure ventilation will reduce the CO content as well as other gases. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003
IS HE DONE YET? (almost) • A HAZMAT call is just like any other. Just like a structure fire or an MVA on icy roads, our goal is to size up the scene, take care of business, and arrive back at the station in one piece. • With HAZMAT, remember that it’s easier to evacuate an entire city than explain to your partners kid why Daddy won’t be coming home for dinner. CCFA HazMat Awareness 2003