ABSTRACT
Hazardous materials technicians and ¤re¤ghters share much of the same training and constantly work on their intradisciplinary training, but they still need to be better trained. e ¤re¤ghters in our communities are what we might call “jacks of all trades.” Generally, ¤re¤ghters have the broadest amount of training, and will venture into the ¤elds of hazardous materials, emergency medical services, local gas or electric companies, building construction and law enforcement. All these areas cover the things ¤re¤ghters are called upon to react to once dispatched to a scene. Police and ¤re crews often request hazmat technicians at incidents, and, upon their arrival, they bring a speci¤c skill set to the incident. Fire crews are trained to take defensive actions at hazardous materials calls. ese actions include a host of options, none of which involves actively trying to stop the incident, be it a spill or leak. For example, ¤re as well as law enforcement are trained to: Recognize the presence of hazardous materials; Avoid contact with them; Isolate the area and secure it from civilians; and Notify other, better trained responders to respond to the scene. is acronym is RAIN, and it is used for reporting and responding to hazardous materials incidents. We will explore the ¤re and hazmat responders in this chapter, the areas in which they can be cross-trained and the issues faced by each group.
