Vital First Minutes (1976)

[Music] producers of hazardous materials know how to handle them safely that's their job and they're good at it they work under carefully controlled conditions with a healthy respect for the materials handled [Music] they know how to deal with are often toxic combustible corrosive or potentially explosive materials they're trained for instant response to any emergency situation in manufacturing and loading for transport they follow rigid rules in order to avoid mishaps materials are identified according to government regulations the law requires that placards be applied the cargo is spelled out on shipping [Music] papers it's vitally important that carriers know the nature of their cargo and transport it in proper equipment designed and built to contain and transport hazardous materials [Music] just what are hazardous materials any substance which in the event of an emergency presents a danger of injury to persons destruction of property or a threat to the environment every day thousands of tons of such materials are handled safely over the nation's highways and on America's railroads and on our waterways smaller quantities Wing their way through the skies but once materials are in transit conditions cannot always be perfectly controlled weather road conditions mechanical malfunction traffic another driver any one of these can Herald trouble for instance when another driver decides to cut a corner and take your half of the road [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] accidents unpredictable incidents can and sometimes do happen involving the unintentional release of hazardous [Music] substances to prevent a transportation incident from turning into a disaster everything depends on those vital first [Music] minutes break break break break 10100 10 100 tank truck D between Al Road and Fork Road cargo corrosive liquid repeat cargo corrosive liquid 10 100 10 [Music] [Applause] 100 is there other one hurt no I can show you some help I'll get someone away right I'm 27 headquarters be advised we have a 1010 property damage involving an overturn tank truck with chemicals be on route for I'll be between Fort Road and Adam Street request fire equipment and ambulance Personnel h y yeah what's the location okay be right there [Applause] hey how you doing what kind of a load you carrying olum 40,000 lbum yeah yeah I don't think we can handle this alone let me use this for a minute [Music] [Applause] Bill here's the shipping paper call dispatcher tell her what we've got on our hands here she'll know what to do but do it right now okay Mike call um Frank Hawkins tell him we need a front end loader right now and we need a truckload of dirt as soon as he can get it right okay well fellas I think we better set up a roadblock why don't we down at this end set it up at Adams Road and down at this end uh at Fort Street Fort Road and uh whatever we do let's not have any gawkers okay we might have a little problem here tonight I really don't know this stuff all that well but it could be bad I think we better keep people up wind okay I'll give you down here plenty of work yeah we don't want any fumes to get to them and uh I think that'd be the safe thing to do hook it up yes sir but everybody please get back your vehicles we have to keep this roadway clear sir get your vehicle is this your car there's been an accident up here so we have to keep the roadway clear Miss do you have a vehicle here would you please go and get your vehicle ma' please move on we have to keep the roadway clear see how long this this take now I have no idea at all ma'am how long it'll take uh your best bet would be to go back about 2 miles and take a left that'll be route 7even that's your that's the shortest way around that's really the shortest way to go that's the shortest route sir engine 12 to dispatch be advised we have a truckload of Oleum on its side and leaking Chief would like a additional information on this in any transportation emergency involving chemicals accurate information about the materials is needed immediately it can be obtained on a 24-hour basis from a manufacturing chemist Association service called kemre by dialing this toll-free number area code 800 424 9300 do you have a chemical emerc the caller provides as many details as possible the location and description of the accident the name of the chemical cargo type of transport the shipper environmental and weather conditions and any other factors the chem Trak Communicator needs to know in recommending a correct course of action the communicator then advises what to do and what not to do to bring the situation under control kimre will notify the shipper who in turn will supply additional information single what's the nature of the accident overturned leaking punctured and may dispatch qualified Personnel to the scene of the incident to Aid the local emergency response team hey Frank they it enough at the end of the spell [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] what you've seen is a transportation emergency being handled properly now you know and I know that things don't get done right simply by chance but how does a right response at the right time come about how effective we handle an emergency depends on how well we've done our homework in a word planning the planning and training we've done long before an incident occurs in an emergency we've got to be on good working relationships with all people involved just who and what might be involved police skilled in traffic control and the police helicopter medical personnel doctors nurses ambulance Crews trained in emergency care and ambulance response local contractors with Earth moving equipment other technically trained personnel and most important firefighters trained in handling hazardous materials included to should be in Environmental Protection people concerned with our air land and water planning should be both organizational as well as technical it's important to know what our capabilities and resources are in advance both in Manpower and equipment to know what's available for outside help and to know how to get it now what we might need from you someday Frank on very short notice is Earth moving equipment well that shouldn't be any problem for us we're on 24-hour call it's also reassuring to know that our Emergency Medical Services are available to help us planning also includes having on hand telephone numbers of individuals and agencies that know what to do when they're called upon rapid and coordinated communication is essential to make sure all know what to do and how to do it what and how the reasons for training training is essential especially for firefighters both paid and volunteer training should be designed to upgrade emergency response capability to handle any type of hazardous material incident training may be formal such as in this classroom situation where mockups and scale models of one's Community might be used to good advantage or it might be quite informal as in this fire station training session but whatever all training should cover the characteristics and behavior of hazardous materials under the various conditions in which they might be released an emergency involving hazardous materials is no place for Guess work identifying hazardous substances from Shipping papers is one thing knowing what they can do is something else and since there are so many hazardous materials it's really quite a challenge there are two things which must be considered first the initial judgment in the emergency response find out what kind of hazardous material is involved second take the action necessary to control the incident the action taken in the first few minutes can mean the difference between disaster and a quick return to normal operations now you'll recall there are three things necessary to make a fire fuel heat and oxygen but in dealing with hazardous materials fire or flammability is only one property reactivity that is violent reaction when exposed to air water heat or fire and toxicity or effect on health are the other two each must be dealt with in its own way now let's consider the classifications of hazardous materials as found on shipping papers any one of which may have more than one dangerous property explosives Dynamite is a good example flammable liquids that is liquids that give off flammable Vapors at 100° F or less like gasoline combustible liquids liquids which give off flammable Vapors between 100 and 200° F kerosene is an example flammable Compressed Gas liquefied petroleum gas is typical nonflammable Compressed Gas nitrogen is one flammable solids white phosphorus is one oxidizing materials materials which give off oxygen readily and stimulate combustion ammonium nitrate is typical poisonous gases liquids and solids like fos Gene analin oil and sodium cyanide powder corrosive materials like sulfuric acid or muriatic acid these materials are corrosive to skin tissue and metals radioactive materials radium is one eological agents microorganisms and viruses that cause disease irritating materials tear gas is one remember now the placard on the vehicle or the label on the container are only your first clue to the dangers that are involved you must identify the material now let's consider again the three properties which may be involved D in a hazardous material emergency flammability reactivity or toxicity or Hazard to Health First flammability acetone an example of a flammable liquid one way to deal with this is with alcohol type foam a second way is to apply water fog now let's consider the second property of hazardous materials reactivity a good example is the oxidizer sodium peroxide it's extremely dangerous when in contact with combustible materials or when it becomes damp the proper response to this substance may be to let it burn itself out or if available apply Deluge quantities of water in any case prevent exposure to life and property now let's consider the third property of hazardous materials toxicity or effects on health this liquid substance is Oleum its fumes are extremely irritating and also very corrosive the liquid itself is very corrosive to body tissues consequently emergency response teams need double protection the liquid itself is extremely corrosive to bodily tissues the proper response to this type of material is to flood bodily contacted areas with large amounts of water knock down fumes with water fog and blanket the substance with high expansion foam in any case where large spills are involved it's important to evacuate the downwind areas of any large spill or leak good sound training instructions to be complete must cover all of the classifications of hazardous materials and the correct response to them in the event of an incident involving hazardous materials now it's true this was but a single incident and no two incidents can be handled exactly alike step by step item for item item but this was a job well done because effective emergency response measures were taken quickly the incident was handled without any tragic consequences no one was hurt just an incident not too Pleasant while it lasted but over now and safely handled because sound planning and advance and sound training made sure that the proper people took the proper action [Music] with a command post set up to coordinate the activities of all concerned communication channels were kept open proper agencies contacted swiftly people swung into action doing those things they had been trained to do and doing them well knowing that in the event it ever becomes necessary they will be ready knowing that the difference between life and death might well depend on what happens during those vital first minutes [Music] oh [Music]