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ISFSI THE HANDS-ON TRAINING GUIDEFOR THE FIRE INSTRUCTOR

Terminating HazardousMaterials Incidents

TASKToday's fire service is faced with hazardous materials,in one form or another, at almost every incident. Haz-ardous materials exist in every community, jurisdiction,town, city, business residence and vehicle. First respond-ers must recognize the presence of hazardous materialsin the obvious forms and also when not so obvious, likethe toxic gases that are produced during the many com-bustion processes that exist in today's world. Emergen-cy response organizations are obligated to educate andprepare their personnel for dealing with hazardous ma-terials. Likewise, we must properly debrief personnelutilizing concise termination procedures and critiques.

OBJECTIVES1. The student shall be able to identify the purpose of

incident termination procedures.2. The student shall be able to identify the specific

logistical needs for terminating an incident.3. The student shall be able to identify the critical areas

tha t need to be addressed dur ing inc identtermination.

4. The student shall be able to properly performincident termination procedures.

5. The student shall be able to identify the purpose ofdebriefings, post-incident analysis and critiques.

6. The student shall be able to identify the specificlogistical needs for debriefings, post-incidentanalysis and critiques.

Copyright @ 2003 International Society of Fire Service InstructorsAll rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without perrnission in writing from the publisher.

7 . The student shall be able to identify the critical areasthat need to be covered in debriefings, post-incidentanalysis and critiques.

8. The student shall be able to identify the ground rulesfor performing debriefings, post-incident analysisand critiques.

9. The student shall be able to properly perform adebrief ing, post incident analysis or cr i t iquefollowing an incident or training exercise.

INSTRUCTIONAT AIDSTraining drill or simulated hazardous materials incidentto utilize in terminating and critiquing the incident.

ESTIMATED TEACHING TIMEThe amount of time to successfully complete thistraining session will vary depending on the simulatedincident. Always remember to allow enough time forstudents not to be rushed through. These time periodswill vary and will depend on the size of the department,number of personnel, equipment avai lable andproficiency of your responders.

MOTIVATING THE STUDENTThink about responding to an ordinary residentialstructure fire. These incidents are often called routine,bread and butter, but who would call them a hazardousmaterials incident?

If you find yourself disagreeing with this conceptyou should reconsider. Every structure fire can be ahaz-

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ardous materials incident based solely on the productsthat are in the structure such as furnishings, carpet andeven the building materials. These items can producetoxic chemicals that could be deadly to humans and theenvironment.

The strategies and tactics utilized in response tostructure fires have changed from just administeringextinguishing agents to examining and containing prod-ucts, byproducts and run off. Add to this the millions ofvessels that carry hazardous materials daily. This con-cept is quickly gaining the attention of fire service pro-fessionals around the world. Utilizing termination pro-cedures and critiques will increase safety and allow usto leam from mistakes to make our responses safer.

PRESENTATION

TERMINATION PROCEDURES

A. Purpose of Termination Procedures

1. Address the concerns of responders withregard to health and safety

2. Address the concerns of the general publicwith regard to health and safety

3. Assemble all required documentation forrecord keeping

4. Share lessons learned from the incident

5. Provide a record of resources and events thatmay affect public health, financial resources,and the community environment

6. Provide information required by local, state,and federal agencies to comply withenvironmental laws

B. Components

1. Termination is divided into three phasesa. Debriefingb. Post-incidentanalysisc. Critique

2. Termination activities should be designed toget appropriate information to the individualsthat need it most

3. Termination procedures alleviate potentialnegative outcomes of failure to properlyterminate an incidenta. Release of inaccurate or misleading

information could have long-lastingeffects

b. Failure to conduct proper terminationactivities may result in negative coverage

by news media and create misunderstand-ing by officials and general public

c. Release of incorrect data could result inthe illness of exposed individuals

d. Release of incorrect data could result inthe use of improper clean-up techniques

e. Release of incorrect data could result inunsafe disposal procedures

DEBRIEFING

A. Purpose of Debriefing

1. To provide the appropriate incidentinformation to the appropriate individuals(responders) prior to their leaving the sceneof an incident

2. The debriefing should focus on informationbeing provided to the response personnel,particularly the response/entry teams

B. Goals

1. An effective debriefing should:a. Identify the exact materialb. Provide appropriate information for

response personnel exposure recordsc. Identify any damaged or lost equipment

or unsafe conditionsd. Gather information for use in the post-

incident critiquee. Summarize activities performedf. Reinforce positive aspects and outcomes

of the response

2. When to conduct a debriefinga. As soon as the emergency response phase

is completeb. Prior to personnel leaving the scene

3. Who should parlicipate in a debriefinga. All involved response personnelb. Hazardous materials team membersc. Sector/geographic officersd. Incident Commandere. Others who are affected

4. Location of the debriefinga. On-site, but in a location sheltered from

environment and distractionsI Command unitf TentsI Bu i ld inss) Bus

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5. Parameters for conducting a debriefinga. Conducted by one person who acts as a

facilitatora Incident Commandera Operations Officera Hazardous materials representative to

Unified Commandb. Limited to 15-20 minutes maximum time

a Designed to deliver information priorto responders clearing scene

a In-depth discussion should behandled in PIA or critique

6. Topics addressed in debriefing (Debriefingscover five areas of concern based uoonimportance)a. Provide health information

a The exact material of exposurea Signs and symptoms from exposure

and time delay until these maypresent themselves

a Signs and symptoms of CriticalIncident Stress

a Responsibility for follow-up activitiesand log personnel exposure levels

b. Review equipment and apparatusexposures

c. Assign follow-up contact persond. Identify problems that require immediate

actione. Give praise and thanks for efforts

POST-INCIDENT ANALYSIS

A. Purpose of Post-Incident Analysis (PIA)

1. We conduct a Post-incident Analysis to:a. Verify that all notifications and decontam-

ination requirements have been metb. Determine who is financially responsible

for responsec. Determine who is responsible for the

clean-upd. Establish a case history for future study

and evaluatione. Provide information about the incident to

agencies not involved in the initialresponse

2. Focus - PIA should focus on the followinsCommand and controTactical operationsResources

d. Support servicese. Plans and procedures

f. Training

CRITIQUE

A. When critiques should be performed

1. After each training session in which drills orevaluations are performeda. Live fire trainingb. Hazardous materials drillsc. Tactical evolutionsd. Disaster drills

2. After each alarm or emergency responsewhen tactical operations are performed

3. How long after training exercises oremergency responses should critiques occur?a. Immediately to do a general review of

the positive and negative aspects of theincident

b. A formal critique of incidents ofsignificance should occur within 48hours of the incident

c. OSHA requires a critique after eachhazardous materials response.

B. Information needed to begin a critique

1. Incident number

2. Incident date

3. Location

4. Communications tape of incident

5. Personnel who responded to incident

6. Incident description/drawing

C. Ground rules for the critique

1. The critique is designed to be a leaming ortraining session not a finger pointing session.

2. Information on lessons leamed should beshared with everyone in the department.

3. Only personnel who performed the task ortasks being reviewed should comment first.Other comments can be added after the initialcomments. Remember hindsight is 20120.

D. Conducting the critique

1. Gather the required information and materialsthat were noted in section B.

2. Set a date and time within the perimeters.Remember that on-site critiques can be

a.

b.

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pedormed and should be performed aftertraining evolutions and emergency incidents.This critique will be informal and may be nomore than reviewing the call and the actionsthat were taken. This will provide a means ofexamining just how effective, efficient andsafe the operations were.

One person shall assume the role of critiqueinstructor or mediator. This person is chargedwith running the critique, establishing theground rules and seeing that they areenforced. This individual may assume theposition of a facilitator to enhance the critiqueif needed.

Topics that are to be covered need to fall in asystematic order as to how your operationsgenerally are conducted. The following aretopics that need to be addressed in a critique.a. Recreate the incident through drawings

and description of the incident.b. Set the sround rules with the

c .d .

consequences for failure to follow them.Start tape of incidentThe first unit to arrive on the scene shoulddescribe the conditions that were foundupon arrival and what actions thiscompany was forced to take. Review thecommands given by the first arriving unit.On the drawing the officer of the crewshould indicate where apparatus wasplaced in relation to the incident. Thenames of crewmembers should also belisted.Actions of the second due company andwho the crew wasWho was in Command and where did hef

or she place their vehicle in relation tothe building?

g. A time sequence of events needs to bereviewed. This can be done as youcontinue to configure the incident. Thiscan be assisted by the use of thecommunications tape. Topics in a timesequence will be department-specificbased upon how the department's SOPsand operations are prioritized.a Alarm timea First unit on scenea Water on the firea Command initiateda Water supply establisheda Knock downa Primary searcha Ventilationa Secondary searcha Fire extinguisheda 2n'd alarma 3''d alarma Additional alarms

RESOURCESHazardous Materials Technician, ISFSINorth Carolina Fire and Rescue Commission Fire

Fighter 1 Curriculum, North Carolina Departmentof Fire Marshal, Hazardous Materials Technician

Hazardous Materials for First Responders. secondedition.IFSTA. 1994

ACKNOWLEDGMENTThe materials in this Instruct-O-Gramwere preparedby Douglas K. Cline, BSW NREMIP, Captain,Chapel Hill (NC) Fire Department and ISFSI EasternRegional Director.

The Instruct-O-Gram is the monthly training outline of the International

Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSD. The monthly Instruct-O-

Gram is provided as one of the benefits of membership in ISFSI.

Call 1-800-435-0005 for information

on other benefits of membership.

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