1. Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Worker Training Chapter 8: Emergency Response

2. Incident Command System (ICS) is used to manage emergency situations by providing: Unity of command (one person in charge) Span of control to manage personnel (3 - 7 people under one supervisor) Life safety code (priorities of protection are life, environment, then property) A modular system to manage resources (a system that can expand and contract with the emergency event) Common terms to promote seamless communication. 8-7

3. ICS was developed to address the following problems during incident response: Too many people reporting to one supervisorDifferent emergency response organizational structuresLack of reliable incident informationInadequate and incompatible communicationsLack of structure for coordinated planning among agencies & organizationsUnclear lines of authorityTerminology differences among agenciesUnclear or unspecified incident objectives 8-7

4. An ICS separates emergency response personnel into five groups: Command, Operations, Planning, Logistics, and Finance and Administration 8-7

5. The Command Staff is responsible for health and safety, communicating with the public, and coordinating with other agencies and groups 8-7

6. The Operations Staff is responsible for all operations directly applicable to the primary mission of the response 8-7

7. The Planning Section is responsible for collecting, evaluating, and distributing the tactical information related to the incident 8-7

8. The Logistics Staff is responsible for providing facilities, services, and materials for the incident response 8-8

9. The Finance and Administrative Staff is responsible for all financial, administrative, and cost analysis aspects of the response 8-8

10. The ICS structure is fixed but the size and specifics can be adjusted for the incident 8-8

11. Activity 10 - Wireless Information System for Emergency Response (WISER) Leaking Barrels in a Warehouse Search for and download the WISER application on your smartphone or tablet

12. This scenario demonstrates how to use WISER’s “help identify” feature to narrow down a chemical’s identity based on the substance’s physical properties and the exposed worker’s symptoms Drums are leaking an unknown substance and exposed workers have been affected. The scene has been cleared of exposed workers and the situation stabilized. You are part of a team consisting of a HAZMAT specialist and skilled support personnel who have been asked to identify the contents of the leaking drums and provide information and recommendations to the Incident Commander.

13. The substance in question has been described as a colorless liquid with an alcohol smell Now the list of likely chemicals has been narrowed from 438 to 31.

14. Workers from the warehouse are showing symptoms of nausea, dizziness, headache and eye irritation The list of likely chemicals has been narrowed to 11.

15. The results list has been reduced to 3 potential substances. You see an NFPA label on the barrels indicating the substance is serious (3) flammability hazard

16. The “Group By” feature allows the results list to be grouped by any of the property and symptom categories, NFPA 704 categories and the supported substance categorizations This allows you to identify a property, symptom, or other piece of information that would help you eliminate a number of potential substance.

17. The HAZMAT specialist uses a hydrometer to determine that the substance floats on water so you know that it’s specific gravity is less than one You can remove nitroglycerin from the results because it sinks in water (specific gravity >1) and are left with two possible substances remaining

18. The remaining substances are very similar alcohols with similar characteristics, effects and handling procedures

20. Resources for Additional Information OSHA Incident Command System (ICS) eTool http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/ics/index.html http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/ics/index.html FEMA EMI National Incident Management System Courses http://www.training.fema.gov/is/nims.aspx http://www.training.fema.gov/is/nims.aspx