Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department

April 26, 2009

Station 627 recently hosted a Hazardous Materials Operations Class, which is in accordance with NFPA 472. It is a 24-hour class consisting of 16 hours of classroom material and 8 hours of hands-on evolutions. The material in this class instructs First Responders at a hazardous materials incident how to safely and defensively recognize and control hazards from a distance, until Technicians or Specialists arrive. This control is performed to protect nearby persons, the environment and property. The Hazardous Materials Operations Certification is one of four Hazardous Materials certifications for emergency responders. The certifications go in order from Awareness, Operations, Technician, and Specialist. Personnel trained at the Operations Level are required to take a 6-hour refresher course annually in order to maintain their certification.

During the classroom sessions, students learned things from how different hazardous materials are classified, to what types of containers they are transported in, and how to protect themselves and others from the materials. It was stressed that hazardous materials incidents are emergencies but they must be handled slowly and carefully, otherwise more people and property may become endangered, escalating the emergency. At the end of the class students must pass a written exam. If students wishes, they may go on to achieve a State Certification at the Operations Level. There are State Certifications available for both the Hazardous Materials Awareness Level and the Technician Level.

During the 8-hour hands-on portion of the class students went to different locations to learn how to control or stop the spreading of hazardous materials in moving water by building underflow and overflow dams. Students also learned different methods of foam applications to keep vapors down that the material may be giving off or to extinguish a hazardous material if it's on fire. The instructor then had the students build containment systems to prevent a hazardous material from flowing down into a storm drain and contaminating the local water system. Finally, students finished off the day by training on how to safely decontaminate a person that got exposed to a hazardous material.

Our Department is equipped with various supplies to control the spread of hazardous materials. We are fortunate to have three of our firefighters certified as Hazardous Materials Technicians. A good portion of our other firefighters are trained to the Operations Level and take the 6-hour required refresher annually. Many of the newest firefighters at Station 627 became certified to the Operations Level during this class. The three Hazardous Materials Technicians from our Department are part of the Somerset County Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Team that is known as Team 601.

For the personnel from other fire departments that attended this class, Station 627 hopes that the class was a benefit to you!

(An additional picture and information on this traning can be found on the Training page of this website)