BC HAZMAT responses

[gotwork]

There has been some confusion in the past about who responds and when in regards to HAZMAT.

First notification and response is to the County Health Department. You will get HD Techs that respond and determine the needed response.

If the HD techs determine the need for the Team then such dispatch occurs. The can be a tiered response and a full response.

The team consists of County HAZMAT vehicles and techs along with partnerships from Evesham and Squad 27 from Westampton. This is where the confusion occurs. Some departments get confused and take offense to the Evesham and Westampton being in there local "undispatched", when we actually are. Hopefully, this will clear up any confusion and prevent any in the future.

[WebBoss]

Is there something set in stone about when you should actually make the notification to County Health on the more "routine" incidents?

[opsoverkill]

The only issue I have is your the IC and have a tanker truck that has overturned and needs a Hazmat response and we are waiting for a Tech to respond to determine the level of the response (if I understand it).

Could this possible delay of 20-30 minutes. Be detrimental to the over all successful containment and mitigation of the hazard.

I believe there needs to be some latitude given to the IC to get the Hazmat team ASAP and not have to wait for the scene to be triaged by a Hazmat tech.

[3105]

opsoverkill said:

The only issue I have is your the IC and have a tanker truck that has overturned and needs a Hazmat response and we are waiting for a Tech to respond to determine the level of the response (if I understand it).

Could this possible delay of 20-30 minutes. Be detrimental to the over successful containment and mitigation of the hazard.

I believe there needs to be some latitude given to the IC to get the Hazmat team ASAP and not have to wait for the scene to be triaged by a Hazmat tech.

I concur..otherwise my Haz-Mat Awareness, Operations, and Incident Commander certifications were a waste of time and money. Allegedly, we have been trained to recognize and report....it's the "maybes" that I have no problem with having a HD Tech respond to just to check out. We had a small "Haz-Mat" dispatch a couple of summers ago involving a small container of muriatic acid...recognizing that, we didn't request a full-blown Hammer 15 response.

[shader101]

to 3105: they make nice wall paper in your fire room lol

[3105]

shader101 said:

to 3105: they make nice wall paper in your fire room lol

Precisely!

[tootall]

I am going to ask our two or three dispatchers here to answer this question....if they can...and not busting balls just asking a serious question

How come sometimes when a Chief asks for the Hazmat they get the full team? And when others do they are told that HD15? has to come out first?

Who is deciding at Central when and for what a full Hazmat Dispatch is made?

[WebBoss]

tootall said:

I am going to ask our two or three dispatchers here to answer this question....if they can...and not busting balls just asking a serious question

How come sometimes when a Chief asks for the Hazmat they get the full team? And when others do they are told that HD15? has to come out first?

Who is deciding at Central when and for what a full Hazmat Dispatch is made?

There is an internal policy in place at Central, and I believe it came from the County OEM's office and the Health Department. Any requests for County HAZMAT, County Health, or State DEP must go through:

A. The County Health Department during business hours

B. The on call County Health envirmental responder (one of the HD guys, on a weekly rotation)

It is the responsibility of the County Health rep to make the call on sending just the HD responder or the full team dispatch, based on the information given to them by the fire desk operator.

Most times, one or 2 of the HD responders can handle 90% of what happens, and that's what these guys are paid for.

If the IC reports intellegant information to Central, and Central relays that information correctly to the Health Department, then the outcome should be the proper level of response for the incident... but we all know how that goes sometimes.

[RngrVnc33]

admin said:

tootall said:

I am going to ask our two or three dispatchers here to answer this question....if they can...and not busting balls just asking a serious question

How come sometimes when a Chief asks for the Hazmat they get the full team? And when others do they are told that HD15? has to come out first?

Who is deciding at Central when and for what a full Hazmat Dispatch is made?

There is an internal policy in place at Central, and I believe it came from the County OEM's office and the Health Department. Any requests for County HAZMAT, County Health, or State DEP must go through:

A. The County Health Department during business hours

B. The on call County Health envirmental responder (one of the HD guys, on a weekly rotation)

It is the responsibility of the County Health rep to make the call on sending just the HD responder or the full team dispatch, based on the information given to them by the fire desk operator.

Most times, one or 2 of the HD responders can handle 90% of what happens, and that's what these guys are paid for.

If the IC reports intellegant information to Central, and Central relays that information correctly to the Health Department, then the outcome should be the proper level of response for the incident... but we all know how that goes sometimes.

I follow EXACTLY what Im told to..... Local EM, BC Health Dept Duty person, BC Hazmat Coordinator, and BC OEM Duty person! Ofcourse I work nights, and Day shift does their own thing

[shader101]

hey tootall: belive them answers lol nice and pat it all fits into a nice wraped box all fancy and beliveable right? i got some land for sale in fla for ya too! lol

[WebBoss]

shader101 said:

hey tootall: belive them answers lol nice and pat it all fits into a nice wraped box all fancy and beliveable right? i got some land for sale in fla for ya too! lol

However did I miss this... (no comment)

The HazMat team has ALOT of county-buerocratic red tape associated with it. Pretty much summed up, at least 2 people have to say ok, the tones get dropped, alot of people starting going in their own directions, and in an hour, you have a team enroute to your scene. Not to break stones or pat anyone on their backs, but your sometimes better off just getting the duty Health guy, and 221/272. At least the fire service type folks can function within ICS AND be able to get their jobs done, without trying to get on their power-trip rockers. (Do you get the underlying hints?)

[Reverend]

Just remember this brothers, think about what you are doing. "If you have question on something a "EXPERT" is telling you, question it and test the experts knowledge." "Does he know what he is doing or is he just the guy who spoke up first when others had questions on what to do" Hazmat Guru Unknown. Be smart and be careful, dont get in over your head. As fireman we tend to jump in with both feet, HM is not the time. This is the time get the info and make calculated decisions based on risk.

Side note: I dont know if this has changed, but Squad 27 used to go assist in getting the BC Hammer apparatus out of the pole barn. Foul ball, the Squad 27 should be going direct to the scene to start accessing so when the Hammer unit gets there with more personell they can start operations. Also the BC Health duty guy will have some support and increased capability.with the Squad there. Just my two lincolns gents.

[gotwork]

Rev,

It is not officially changed yet, but we have had some meetings and that is the direction it is going now. They saw our point on the early assistance to the HD techs and the pre arrival setup. We would like to operate more like your dept., but it is definitley going to take time. There is a fear that we are trying to take over the team when in reality we are just trying to make it more efficient.

Wylie