Tag Archives: first responders

General Safety Issues

APRIL IS NATIONAL 9-1-1 PUBLIC AWARENESS and EDUCATION MONTH

 For the past several days, we have learned to respect and appreciate our first responders, more than ever.  In Boston, we viewed the aftermath of two explosions, deliberately set to kill and hurt runners and bystanders at the Boston Marathon.  Within seconds, there were runners helping those who had been injured- police, firemen, SWAT teams, paramedics, EMT students, and physicians swarmed the scenes to treat and rush the victims to hospitals. 

Miles away, in the small town of West, Texas, again, the heroics were played out when a fire started near a fertilizer plant, and volunteer firefighters, paramedics and EMT students rushed to try to put out the blaze and assist with  injured.  Suddenly, the heat came too near ammonium nitrate being stored in the facility, and a huge explosion happened.  The explosion devastated a four-block radius of the plant, and many families have lost everything they had.  The death toll is now estimated to be 14, with the vast majority of those being first responders.  Approximately 200 persons were injured. 

It’s events such as these that we realize how truly important our first responders are.  This past week was spotlighted as National Public Safety Telecommunications Education Week, in order to promote awareness of proper practices when calling the emergency assistance number.  Behind the scenes, there are highly trained professionals who are the first persons to answer this life-saving number when a call is made.  Dispatchers take the calls and coordinate the response of emergency medical services, fire department, or local law enforcement.  

When 9-1-1 services are needed, we should understand how to place the call, as well as educate our children, too.  It is important that we describe the situation as carefully as possible, and give out any landmarks in order to assist the responders in finding your location.  Don’t text 9-1-1, as it won’t be received.  Don’t become frustrated with the dispatcher’s questions, as he/she probably already have a unit on the way, but it is helpful to the responding team to have as much advance information as possible. 

If you should call 9-1-1 by mistake, don’t hang up, because there will probably be a unit sent to your address.  Just stay on the line and explain what happened.  Teach your children never to play a prank call on anyone, especially that important number. 

Dispatchers are screened thoroughly and receive classroom and on-the-job training.  They are entrusted with medical information as well as the law enforcement side of the occasion. Stop and think how fortunate we are to have seen the display of courage that law enforcement, firefighters and medical teams play on an every-day basis.  It is times like these that we need to stop and be thankful that they stand at the ready.  And give a pat on the back to those dispatchers and others in the 9-1-1 call center that can save lives with a speedy response or just knowing how to talk to persons who are in highly emotional states at that time.

As has been mentioned several times: when there is an emergency, our fire departments, healthcare providers and law enforcement are headed toward the situation when everyone else is running away.

Eye Protection, First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection, Hearing Protection, Respiratory Safety

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT TRAINS, PART I

Have you ever wondered as you drive down the highway about those trains you see rolling along, and what on earth could be in all those cars?  You also see lots of graffiti, done by some local “artists” along the way, and can’t help but question all the places that train has been.  One thing you need to understand, is that many of those cars are carrying hazardous materials, and in the event of a derailment, or spill, you need to drive away from the area as soon as possible. 

Railroad companies are overseen primarily by the Federal Railroad Administration, but also answer to the Department of Transportation, and the National Transportation Safety Board.  No person may transport a hazardous material in commerce unless that material is properly classed, described, packaged, marked, labeled, and placarded and is in condition for transportation according to DOT regulations.  Railroad Company computers are able to track the trains at all times. 

For your information, here are the hazard classes and divisions:

  • 1 – Explosives (1.1 – Explosive with mass explosion hazard; 1.2 – Explosive with projection hazard; 1.3 – Explosive with predominantly fire hazard; 1.4 – Explosive with no significant blast hazard; 1.5 – Very insensitive explosive; blasting agent, and 1.6 – Extremely insensitive detonating substance.)
  • 2. – Gases (2.1 – Flammable gas; 2.2 – Nonflammable, nonpoisonous, (nontoxic), compressed gas; and 2.3 – Poisonous (toxic) gas (by inhalation).
  • 3 – Flammable Liquids
  • 4 – Flammable Solids and Reactive Solids/Liquids (4.1 – Flammable solid; 4.2 – Spontaneously combustible material, and 4.3 – Dangerous when wet marked.)
  • 5 – Oxidizers and Organic Peroxides  (5.1 – Oxidizer; 5.2 Organic peroxide.)
  • 6 – Poisonous (Toxic) Materials/Infectious Substances (6.1 – Poisonous (Toxic) material; 6.2 – Infectious substance.
  • 7 – Radioactive Materials
  • 8 – Corrosive Materials
  • 9 – Miscellaneous Hazardous Materials

Worded Classes

Combustible Liquids (regulated in bulk packaging only)

ORM-D (Other Regulated Materials – D) (regulated in air transportation only; not regulated in rail transportation. 

Shipping hazardous materials are time-sensitive.  Those under a 20-day time limit to arrive are:

  • 1.      Ethylene, refrigerated liquid
  • 2.      Hydrogen, refrigerated liquid
  • 3.      Chloroprene, stabilized
  • 4.      Flammable liquid, N.O.S.
  • 5.      Hydrogen chloride, refrigerated liquid
  • 6.      Vinyl fluoride, stabilized

Those having a 30-day shipping limit are:

  1. Styrene monomer, inhibited
  2. Flammable Liquid, (Recycled styrene) 

When transporting hazardous material shipments in a train, a member of the train crew must also have acceptable emergency response information and a document showing the current position of each hazardous material in the train.  This documentation provides railroad and emergency response personnel with accurate information for every hazardous material being transported. 

Next, In Part II, we will talk about what type of training railroad crews experience to be prepared for a hazardous material spill caused by a railroad derailment or railroad car leak.  Please read on…..

Source: Daniel Burlison, Retired Manager, Train Operations