HazMatHarry

ALF's armored vehicle unit: MAV Vehicles

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NWS Confirms Tornado Edit: Intensity was EF-1: NWS Tornado Info

A cupfull of mercury is extremely hazardous! Anything more than a tablespoon spilled is considered a large amount and should be checked out by a hazmat team and the local health department. A clean up contractor will come in handy later on but you'll definately want english-speaking professionals there initially, especially in a school. The hiring practices of these clean up companies are the reason that HAZWOPER is now offered en espanol. THe health department may also be very interested in monitoring the efficacy of the contractors clean up.

I took this class last month and took the CTOS Mobile Training Team's Personal Radiation Detector course just yesterday. CTOS is part of NSTec, the contractor that runs the Nevada Test Site (Grumman is the prime contractor in the NSTec consortium) for the Department of Energy but CTOS is funded by DHS. CTOS used to be part of Bechtel Nevada when Bechtel had the DOE contract and the course is sometimes referred to as just "Bechtel." You arrive on a Sunday, class goes Monday through Thursday and fly home Friday (with the option of extending your trip if you pay for your own hotel after Thursday night) Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights are in Las Vegas at the Tuscany Suites and Casino; Tuesday and Wednesday nights are in dorms at the Nevada Test Site (about an hour north of Vegas). The test site is an extremely interesting and historic government installation, you can learn a lot about it from a little googling. The class was quite large, around 100 students split into two groups and they run the gamut from fire and police to health care, military, and more. Students came from all over the country from large metropolitan departments to federal agencies to small rural departments. All students are required to be state certified hazmat technicians and most have 40 or 80 hour training rather than the 24 hour minimum. The curriculum includes an overview of the nuclear and radiological hazard, a tour of the Nuclear Testing Museum, and practical exercises to include locating radiological materials, deconning patients, and performing mock rescues in a high radiological energy environment. You will learn how to operate detectors, dosimeters, and probes. I found it interesting that the course seemed structured to first break you down and get you scared of ionizing radiation and then build you up to the point where you are very comfortable working around it. I arrived with more advanced knowledge than many of the other participants due to the nature of my job but I think we were all on a pretty level playing field when we graduated. One thing to remember, however, is that if your agency does not have a radiological response role and the equipment/instruments to drill with you will quickly forget what you learned in the course. In my agency we train with the dectors used in the course as well as some more advanced instruments on a weekly basis. For this course they do in fact run at least some sort of background check as you will be in proximity to some very sensitive areas. The scope of the check is limited to foreign dealings and criminal records, not professional qualifications to be there. The Test Site security force in and of itself is very impressive and extremely well armed. The nights at the dorms are not the time to screw around, you definately want to be on your best behavior (and they'll read you the riot act to that effect when you arrive on site). If any of you have questions about the course please don't hesistate to get in touch with me via PM. Also for those that are interested, CTOS is part of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), all of the NDPC sites (CDP in Anniston is one of them for instance) offer training fully funded by DHS. THe newest NDPC site is actually in Hawaii (!) but they dont have any courses scheduled yet. Links to all the sites are available on the NDPC site at: http://www.ndpc.us/

NYC currently has no commuter tax.

Great Pics! Thats a lot of tactical pants.... I'm off to the NAtional Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend at NFA. Hopefully I'll have some interesting pics to share when I get back....

NFPA 1951 defines two different types of protective ensembles (bunker gear) for technical rescue, utility and rescue & recovery. The difference in the definitions is that utility only provides protection against physical and thermal hazards while rescue and recovery protects against physical and thermal hazards as well as liquid and body fluid-borne pathogens. Does anyone know if any guidance or standards exists on when to choose which ensemble as well as where such guidance can be found? I realize that likely those making patient contact will choose the rescue and recovery ensemble but I'd like to see some official documentation regarding the choice of one versus the other. Thanks in advance!

Close but not quite. Nassau's ESU is actually part of the Highway Patrol Bureau and can provide initial SWAT response but is primarily focused on rescue related activities (lock outs, wild animals, extrication, lockouts, hazmat, etc.) ESU will usually wait for BSO's SWAT operators to make an entry, especially for the heavy stuff. ESU and BSO work closely together but are seperate units with seperate purposes. When not acting as a SWAT team, BSO mostly does anti-crime undercover work.

This is a cross posting from nassaufd rant, I'm trying to gather as much information as possible so I'm putting it here and a few other places as well. I'm doing a small policy research project and I was hoping all of you could help. What agencies in Nassau permit EMTs (even if its only on a case by case basis) to run red lights and sirens as per sections 115-c and 101 of the VTL and NYSDOH BEMS Policy Statement 01-01 (Authorizing Private Vehicles as EASV's (Use of Red Lights & Sirens)) or Sections 115-A and 101 of the VTL that allows fire chiefs to designate anyone to use lights and sirens: "...operated by a chief or assistant chief of a fire department, or a county or deputy county fire coordinator, or county or assistant county fire marshall, or town or assistant town fire coordinator, or such vehicle when operated in an official capacity by or under the direction of such person"? What about in Suffolk, NYC, or other counties in the state? In other words what departments, EMS or fire, allow any members (officers, ALS providers, all EMTs, etc) certified as an EMT at a minumum to run lights and sirens in thier POVs? So far I know: NYC Hatzolah Whitestone VAC Jamaica Estates VAC Emergency Medical Rescue (EMRNYC) Nassau Glen Cove EMS (Only 1 member) Malverne VAC/Atlantic Beach Rescue/Bellmore - Merrick VAC? (only ex-chiefs) Erie County Lancaster VAC (ALS providers only) Delaware County Kortright Rural Emergency Squad-Bloomfield FD

Whoops, Thanks CL. It's section 115-A coupled with section 101 that allows fire chiefs to authorize red lights and siren. I corected the first post. Anecdotally, some agencies use that authority to authorize member's POVs as emergency vehicles. 115-c and 101 designate EASVs as emergency vehicles. Section 375 is what allows emergency vehicles defined under section 101 to operate red lights and sirens. My read on 115-A is that the line "or such vehicle when operated in an official capacity by or under the direction of such person" is what allows chiefs to make such an authorization. I cant find the quote right now but I read somewhere that DOH didnt want to deal with the paperwork for authorizing a BLS FD members car as a EASV and instructed the department to authorize it under 115-A