Moving From HAZMAT TECH to HAZMAT Specialist in WMD Incidents

Purpose: This instruction block is formatted to assist the first-in fire service officer, law enforcement agency, or emergency manager in understanding how to leverage domestic military support assets during WMD, illicit clandestine laboratory, or significant industrial hazmat disasters. The course aims to break the stigma of requesting domestic military support and enhance the local incident commander’s ability to make the right calls, at the right time.

Scope: The course will cover pertinent information to include considerations during scene size-up to help determine the need or utility of requesting military assets, what assets are available to an IC once the request is made, what to expect upon arrival of the asset/s, and the proper channels for requesting these assets. This class will include a review of multiple cases when military hazardous materials technicians were used to quickly identify hazards, advise and assist the incident commander in bridging the gap between local, state, and federal assets, and assess risk to the community