Hazmat Training

The folks over at USFA.DHS.gov have a brief piece on their emergency responder page reminding people about the free hazmat response training made available through TRANSCAER. They also provide a link to the Spring-Summer 2010 issue of the TRANSCAER newsletter. TRANSCAER is a training organization supported by national railroad and truck associations in concert with organizations supporting hazmat producers and distributors. It provides high-quality hands-on training for first responders in how to respond to transportation incidents where there is a release of hazardous materials. The newsletter describes a new program TRANSCAER is planning on providing for anhydrous ammonia transportation incidents. The 2011 Anhydrous Ammonia TRANSCAER Training Tour is scheduled to start next February. The target audience for tour events includes emergency responders, agricultural businesses, emergency management officials, public safety representatives, law enforcement agencies, consultants, etc. High-risk chemical facilities handling anhydrous ammonia need to consider working with their local responders to get local access to this training.

TRANSCAER Newsletter

TRANSCAER, a public-private partnership for assisting communities to prepare for and respond to possible hazardous materials transportation incidents, recently published the second issue of their TRANSCAER Today newsletter. The newsletter highlights the continuing efforts of TRANSCAER to provide emergency response training for local first responders, teaching them the appropriate ways to deal with a variety of railroad related chemical incidents. The summer 2009 issue looks at recent training tours in the Dakotas, Missouri, and California. It also provides a listing of future training sites including ethanol specific and chlorine specific training to be conducted over the coming months. Anyone interested in emergency response training related to chemical railcar incidents should get a copy of the free newsletter.