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Merseyside Hazmat Unit ‘trailblazer for UK’ |
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A team of firefighters from Merseyside have recently returned from Washington DC where they have had advanced training in hazardous materials incidents. They will form the new Hazmats Unit that is set to operate from Bromborough Community Fire Station on Wirral.
The unit is to be based on the model used in Washington where all the firefighters in the team are certified Hazmat Technicians. This enhanced hazmats capability was developed in the aftermath of 9/11 and is seen as a world-leader. Firefighters were asked to volunteer for the new team for Bromborough and 11 representatives from MFRS travelled to the US where they were being trained to National Fire Protection Association standards. They will enhance MFRS’ response to hazmats incidents and will be the first NFPA technicians working in the UK.
The team will be based close to many of the major hazmat risks facing Merseyside, including petro-chemical and pharmaceutical plants along with a high density of industrial chemical producers/users.
It is made up of Watch Managers Andy Clarke, Simon Ashton and Haydn Lipscombe; Crew Managers Marty Kirkham and Peter Malam; and Firefighters Tony Franklin, Steve Martindale, John Sui and Warren Morris. Joining them on the trip to Washington were two trainers from the Training and Development Academy, Paul Hilton and Tim Jennet. They all graduated as NFPA technicians, which is a qualification accredited to Oklahoma State University. WM Andy Clarke said: “It was a two week course with a minimum of 80 hours teaching where we were able to experience their different procedures, equipment and personal protectiveequipment. “It was really eye-opening. They have a lot of different ways of doing things. They use DIM equipment to monitor the scene as they go, whatever the material – whether it’s flammable, biological, radiological etc. Once they have identified what the problem is, they then do a risk assessment and put measures in place to deal with the incident appropriately, which could mean downscaling PPE to a splash suit or overalls with respirator. Or it could be that they use their advanced equipment to tackle theincident, for example they have various equipment for dealing with damaged or ruptured cylinders that is unlike anything I have seen in the UK.
“The course gave us an excellent foundation to build on and we will now be continuing our training here in the UK before the team officially goes live.”
The team will be looking at new equipment and kit that can be introduced and there are already plans in place to make the best use of new technology. Their vehicle will be the world’s first combined pump hazmat unit which will carry new bits of kit especially for hazmat incidents whilst the back of the pump will have an office with laptops, faxes and a reference library. They will also be trialling a new robot. It will work in the same way as the bomb disposal robots and will be used at hazmat incidents or incidents involving acetylene cylinders. Instead of sending people with gas tight suits in to get information, the robot will be able to provide continuous information by beaming back pictures and using sensor capability for issues such as temperature. WM Clarke added: “This is obviously a new step forward and it offers all sorts of possibilities. The robot is controlled remotely but it has cameras fitted that can provide us with continuous live footage of the scene and it will be used to gather information. At present with hazardous materials incidents, safety cordons have to be set up and specialist protective gas tight clothing has to be worn but the robot could reduce the need for staff to even go near the source without being more informed about what they are dealing with.”
The Hazmats Team will be part of the Threat Response Group, led by Group Manager Chris Case. He said: “We will be looking at thevarious equipment and kit that is used in Washington to see whether they could be used in the UK. We have seen an innovative way of working in Washington and a lot of new equipment. We’re looking forward to developing the team here and enhancing the response to hazmats not just for Merseyside but acting as a trailblazer for the rest of the country.”
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