Chapter 1 Flashcards
Hazardous Material
Any substance or material that poses an unreasonable risk to health, safety, property, and/or the environment if it is not properly controlled during handling, storage, manufacture, processing, packaging, use, disposal, or transportation.
Dangerous Goods
(1) Any product, substance, or organism included by its nature or by regulation in any of the nine United Nations classifications of hazardous materials. (2) Alternate term used in Canada and other countries for hazardous materials. (3) Term used in the U.S. and Canada for hazardous materials aboard aircraft.
Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD)
Any weapon or device that is intended or has the capability to cause death or serious bodily injury to a significant number of people through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals or their precursors, a disease organism, or radiation or radioactivity; may include chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive (CBRNE) type weapons.
Mitigate
(1) To cause to become less harsh or hostile; to make less severe, intense, or painful; to alleviate. (2) Third of three steps (locate, isolate, mitigate) in one method of sizing up an emergency situation.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
U.S. nonprofit educational and technical association devoted to protecting life and property from fire by developing fire protection standards and educating the public. Located in Quincy, Massachusetts
Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ)
An organization, office, or individual responsible for enforcing the requirements of a code or standard, or approving equipment, materials, an installation, or a procedure.
Awareness Level
Lowest level of training established by the National Fire Protection Association for personnel at hazardous materials incidents. They perform limited defensive actions, such as calling for help evacuating the hazard area and securing the scene
Operations Level
Level of training established by the National Fire Protection Association allowing first responders to take defensive actions at hazardous materials incidents.
Operations Mission Specific Level
Level of training established by the National Fire Protection Association allowing first responders to take additional defensive tasks and limited offensive actions at hazardous materials incidents.
Incident Commander (IC)
Person in charge of the Incident Command System and responsible for the management of all incident operations during an emergency.
Situational Awareness
Perception of the surrounding environment and the ability to anticipate future events.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Standard methods or rules in which an organization or fire department operates to carry out a routine function. Usually these procedures are written in a policies and procedures handbook and all firefighters should be well versed in their content.
Hazard
Condition, substance, or device that can directly cause injury or loss; the source of a risk.
Acute
Characterized by sharpness or severity; having a rapid onset and a relatively short duration.
Chronic
Marked by long duration; recurring over a period of time.
Acute Health Effects
Health effects that occur or develop rapidly after exposure to a hazardous substance. Such as vomiting or diarrhea
Chronic Health Effects
Long-term health effects resulting from exposure to a hazardous substance. Such as cancer
Routes of Entry
Pathways by which hazardous materials get into (or affect) the human body.
Heat
Form of energy associated with the motion of atoms or molecules in solids or liquids that is transferred from one body to another as a result of a temperature difference between the bodies, such as from the sun to the earth. To signify its intensity, it is measured in degrees of temperature.
Mechanical Energy
Energy possessed by objects due to their position or motion, the sum of potential and kinetic energy.
Pressure
Force per unit area exerted by a liquid or gas measured in pounds per square inch (psi) or kilopascals (kPa).
Electricity
Form of energy resulting from the presence and flow of charged particles.
Chemical Energy
Potential energy stored in the internal structure of a material that may be released during a chemical reaction or transformation.
Radiation
Energy from a radioactive source emitted in the form of waves or particles, as a result of the decay of an atomic nucleus; process known as radioactivity.
Corrosive
Capable of causing damage by gradually eroding, rusting, or destroying a material. Chem that destroy or burn living tissues.
Toxic
Poisonous also chemicals or biological substances that causes sickness, illness, or injury.
Virus
Simplest type of microorganism that can only replicate itself in the living cells of this hosts. Viruses are unaffected by antibiotics.
Bacteria
Microscopic, single-celled organisms.
Toxin
Substance that has the property of being poisonous.
NFPA 1072
Standard for hazardous material weapons of mass destruction emergency response personnel professional qualifications
NFPA 472
Standard for compliance of responders to hazardous material weapons of mass destruction incidents
NFPA 473
Standard for compliance for EMS personnel responding to hazardous material weapons of mass destruction incidents
Hazardous material technician
Performance offense of task, including controlling releases at hazmat incidents and may supervise activities of operational level responders performing mission specific task
Hazardous material incident commander
Manages the incident by making command decisions to utilize resources and determine strategies and tactics to mitigate the emergency
Hazardous material Officer
Manages the hazmat personnel and operations under the direction of the incident commander
At the operations level, responders are expected
To identify potential hazards at incidents
The three primary mechanisms of harm
Energy release
Corrosivity
Toxicity
Six types of energy release
Heat Mechanical Pressure Electricity Chemical Radiation
Energy release at hazmat incident presents
The greatest threat
Corrosives comprise
The largest usage class (by volume) in industry
Statistics indicate that most transportation incidents occur while the materials are
Being transported via highway rather than by air, rail, or water.
Department of transportation
The DOT issues transportation regulations in title 49 (transportation) code of federal regulations. These regulations are sometimes referred to as the hazardous material regulations or HMR
Environmental protection agency
The EPA is responsible for researching and settling national standards for a variety of environmental programs. The EPA issues legislation to protect the environment in title 40 CFR.
Department of Labor
The occupational safety and health administration (OSHA), part of DOL, issues legislation relating to worker safety under title 29 CFR.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
The NRC regulates US commercial nuclear power plants and the civilian use of nuclear materials as well as the possession, use, storage, and transfer a radioactive materials through title 10 (energy) CFR 20
Department of Energy (DOE)
Manages the national nuclear research and defense programs, including the storage of high level nuclear waste
Individuals who train to meet NFPA 1072 will
Meet or exceed OSHA requirements for
awareness
Operations
Technician
