Hazmat Incidents Research Articles

What Do You Do If No One Knows What to Do?

The Emergency Preparedness Committee in the emergency department at a Level I Trauma Center identified a knowledge gap related to hazardous materials and items (Hazmat) incidents and their associated decontamination procedures. This led to the development of a "user-friendly" resource guide for key staff, specifically charge nurses, to utilize during Hazmat situations. Implementing this reference book has significantly increased the number of identified Hazmat incidents. The staff members involved have utilized the reference book to effectively guide them through the Hazmat incidents.

A comparison of multivariate statistical methods for estimating expected consequences for low‐probability and high‐consequence incidents

AbstractThe catastrophic incidents involving hazardous materials (hazmats) have often been termed as low probability and high consequence (LPHC). The purpose of this article is to address some fundamental questions with regard to hazmats incidents: What is the expected consequence of a hazmats incident? How should the consequences of incidents involving hazmats be predicted? An exhaustive statistical analysis is performed on the hazmat incident data available from the U.S. Hazardous Materials Incident Reporting System (HMIRS). We present a sequence of logically deduced, linear statistical models to estimate the two major areas of impact of an incident: (1) population affected and (2) cost incurred due to an incident based on the outcomes of the incident. Our initial experiments indicated that linear models are not sufficient for predicting the consequences. Subsequently, we extended our work to evaluate the effectiveness of three multivariate statistical methods, namely (1) partial least squares, (2) spline regression, and (3) Box‐Cox transformations. Based on our experiments, Box‐Cox transformation showed significant improvement in estimating the consequences. Last, we summarize our findings and provide some general guidelines to entities interested in estimating events categorized as LPHC. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

HAZMAT by truck: another vulnerability?

Tracking sensitive materials carried by truck has been and currently is subject to Federal law, demonstrated by the use of material safety data sheets, (MSDS) and placarding. However, in 2007 when Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (IRCA) was passed which requires tracking tracing, and reporting of hazmat incidents. Yet, it seems that those responsible, particularly the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have no new examples of these mandates. Furthermore, there seems to be little involvement of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) in promoting the requirements of the IRCA even though hazardous materials generation, storage, control, and transportation by truck are serious components of a hazmat vulnerability in the United States. Congress states that the transport of hazardous materials accounts for at least 18% of total freight tonnage, and there are more than 400,000 large trucks dedicated to its movement. The IRCA called for new information on costs and benefits of utilizing tracking technology for motor carriers transporting security-sensitive materials. Federal funding of $7,000,000 was appropriated for this purpose in each fiscal year 2008, 2009, and 2010. On May 27, 2008 the Transportation Security Administration released its Report complying to the IRCA’s mandate. Although the Report of the HAZMAT Truck Security Pilot (HTSP) was to demonstrate “new information,” it did not. Instead, it demonstrated the ignorance of TSA, and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to understand supply chain tracking and security, and the technology currently available in the market. The Pilot was flawed in many aspects. Its major flaws included the definition of the supply chain, itself; the kinds of logistics data available, access to data, accuracy of data, and the communications system needed to monitor and control. The HTSP pilot was quite limited, and bore little resemblance to reality. In every case of the Report’s recommendations, existing technology can obviate the need for unnecessary technology development to meet the recommendations. There is a clear need for another pilot project that involves a real supply chain, major motor carriers, the American Chemical Council (ACC), current available technology, current providers of that technology, and the active support of the ATA with sound government oversight to ensure that the laws it wrote are implemented and followed.

Frequency analysis of hazardous material transportation incidents as a function of distance from origin to incident location

According to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), more than 3.1 billion tons of hazardous materials (HazMat) are shipped within the United States annually. This averages to about 800,000 individual shipments of HazMat per day, of which 300,000 are shipments of petroleum/flammable–combustible liquids. This paper presents a temporal trend study (1995–2004) of 2145 HazMat incidents occurring through the transportation of flammable/combustible liquids. The study also correlates between HazMat incidents and distances between shipment origin and incident location. These distances attained through great circle calculations since the data compilation did not allow for the identification of specific routes taken in commodity transport. Findings of this study illustrate a bimodal distribution of frequency as a function of the logarithm of the Distance with first mode (less than 105 miles) mean of 24 [km] and second mode mean of 1061 [km]. Additionally, transport phase introduced no significance to the distribution of frequencies.

A New Approach to Hazardous Materials Transportation Risk Analysis: Decision Modeling to Identify Critical Variables

We take a novel approach to analyzing hazardous materials transportation risk in this research. Previous studies analyzed this risk from an operations research (OR) or quantitative risk assessment (QRA) perspective by minimizing or calculating risk along a transport route. Further, even though the majority of incidents occur when containers are unloaded, the research has not focused on transportation-related activities, including container loading and unloading. In this work, we developed a decision model of a hazardous materials release during unloading using actual data and an exploratory data modeling approach. Previous studies have had a theoretical perspective in terms of identifying and advancing the key variables related to this risk, and there has not been a focus on probability and statistics-based approaches for doing this. Our decision model empirically identifies the critical variables using an exploratory methodology for a large, highly categorical database involving latent class analysis (LCA), loglinear modeling, and Bayesian networking. Our model identified the most influential variables and countermeasures for two consequences of a hazmat incident, dollar loss and release quantity, and is one of the first models to do this. The most influential variables were found to be related to the failure of the container. In addition to analyzing hazmat risk, our methodology can be used to develop data-driven models for strategic decision making in other domains involving risk.

HazBot: Development of a telemanipulator robot with haptics for emergency response

To design a remotely operated robot, "HazBot," for bioevent disaster response; specifically, to improve existing commercial robots' capabilities in handling fixed-facility hazmat incidents via a unique robot controller that allows the human operator to easily manipulate HazBot in disaster situations. The HazBot's design objectives were for a robot to approach a building, open doors, enter, and navigate the building. The robot's controlling device was designed to provide features not available in current robots: dexterous manipulation and enhanced sensory (touch) feedback via "haptic" technology. The design included a companion simulator to train operators on HazBot. The HazBot met its design goals to do several hazmat-related tasks in place of a human operator: to enter and navigate a building, passing debris and doors as necessary. HazBot's controller reduced the time for inexperienced users of manipulator robots to complete a door-opening task by 55 percent. HazBot overcame previous problems in operator control of robots, via its dexterous manipulation feature, its partially implemented haptic touch feedback, and via its companion simulator. The HazBot system demonstrates superior capability over existing robots: it is technically sophisticated, yet moderately priced; it has dexterous manipulation to make operator tasks easier, haptic feedback, and an excellent companion simulator. HazBot is optimized for hazmat cleanups; is mobile and scaleable; can serve in multiple environments and uncontrolled conditions; and is optimal for disaster situations. It could potentially be used in other disaster situations to deliver medicine to isolated patients, evaluate such patients, assess a downed fire fighter, etc.

Development of a Healthcare Coalition for Emergency Preparedness

ISSUE: Intentional and unintentional mass-casualty incidents, (MCIs), including epidemics, weather-related events, and mass trauma are likely to cross city, county, and even state lines. Significant MCIs in one community may impact multiple disciplines and multiple agencies. Hospitals should collaborate with other partners in the planning for, response to, and recovery from any incident. PROJECT: This abstract describes the development of a healthcare coalition for emergency preparedness in Idaho. In early 2001, a team of hospital managers and disaster coordinators developed a regional response matrix that included emergency notification contacts at each facility, resource management, and communication needs. In 2002, the Healthcare Coaliton for Emergency Preparedness (HCEP) expanded to include regional responders in 14 counties and one bordering state, including fire, emegency medical services, county disaster coordinatiors, public health, law enforcement, Civil Support Team, regional hazardous materials (HazMat) response teams, and hospital infection control practitioners. The coalition membership also includes the United States Health Resources and Services Administration Bioterrorism Preparedness Program. RESULTS: An assessment of response capability was completed and draft memoranda of agreement were developed for communication and resource sharing. The coalition developed and approved a charter, mission statement, and membership. An emergency conference call process was developed and has been used for HazMat incidents, suspicious packages and threat events, and urgent communication needs. A regional infectious disease emegency response plan was developed. This plan was activated in 2004 due to the shortage of influenza vaccine. Regional exercises have been conducted, including specific coalition action items. LESSONS LEARNED: A healthcare coalition for emergency preparedness that includes first responders, hospitals, and other partners is essential for effective emergency response. An integrated emergency response plan can minimize the impact of an incident in the field and at the hospitals, whether it be an MCI event, HazMat Event, or Infectious Disease Event.

Modern Concepts of Treatment and Prevention of Chemical Injuries

Chemical injuries are commonly encountered following exposure to acids and alkali, including hydrofluoric acid, formic acid, anhydrous ammonia, cement, and phenol. Other specific agents that cause chemical burns include white phosphorus, elemental metals, nitrates, hydrocarbons, and tar. Even though there are more than 65,000 chemicals available on the market, and an estimated 60,000 new chemicals produced each year, the potential deleterious effects of these chemicals on humans are still unknown. The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act contains extensive provisions for emergency planning and the rights of communities to know about toxic chemical releases. Since 1990, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has maintained an active, state-based Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system to describe the public health consequences risked by access to hazardous chemicals. Most chemical agents damage the skin by producing a chemical reaction rather than hyperthermic injury. Although some chemicals produce considerable heat as a result of an exothermic reaction when they come in contact with water, their ability to produce direct chemical changes on the skin accounts for the most skin injury. Specific chemical changes depend on the agent, including acids, alkalis, corrosives, oxidizing and reducing agents, desiccants, vesicants, and protoplasmic poisons. The concentration of toxic agent and duration of its contact primarily determine degree of skin destruction. Hazardous materials (hazmats) are substances that may injure life and damage the environment if improperly handled. HAZMAT accidents are particularly dangerous for responding personnel, who are in danger from the moment of arrival on the scene until containment of the accident. Consequently, the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act mandates community preparedness for dealing with hazmat accidents. Paramedics and members of the hazmat response team (usually firefighters) must work together to identify toxic chemicals and assess hazardous environments. The contingency plan for hazmat management can be divided into two parts: initiation of the site plan and evacuation. In coping with hazmat incidents, two distinct goals must be achieved concomitantly. First, hazmats must be contained, fire and explosions must be extinguished, and the site eventually must be cleaned. Second, those exposed to hazmats must be treated at the scene of contamination as well as in the hospital and rehabilitation setting.

H AZARDOUS M ATERIALS R ESPONSES IN A M ID-SIZED M ETROPOLITAN A REA

Objective. To determine the chemicals involved in fire department hazardous materials (hazmat) responses and analyze the concomitant emergency medical services' patient care needs. Methods. The setting was a mid-sized metropolitan area in the southwestern United States with a population base of 400,000 and an incorporated area of 165 square miles. The authors conducted a retrospective evaluation of all fire department hazmat reports, with associated emergency medical services patient encounter forms, and in-patient hospital records from January 1, 1992, through December 31, 1994. Results. The fire department hazardous materials control team responded to 468 hazmat incidents, involving 62 chemicals. The majority of incidents occurred on city streets, with a mean incident duration of 46 minutes. More than 70% of the responses involved flammable gases or liquids. A total of 32 incidents generated 85 patients, 53% of whom required transport for further evaluation and care. Most patients were exposed to airborne toxicants. Only two patients required hospital admission for carbon monoxide poisoning. Conclusion. Most hazmat incidents result in few exposed patients who require emergency medical services care. Most patients were exposed to airborne toxicants and very few required hospitalization. Routine data analysis such as this provides emergency response personnel with the opportunity to evaluate current emergency plans and identify areas where additional training may be necessary.

The use of Personal Protective Equipment in Hazmat Incidents

Medical personnel are at risk when handling victims of Hazmat incidents. Special clothing and respiratory equipment are required to protect them from absorbing these toxic materials through inhalation or through dermal contact. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) refer to both clothing and equipment used to shield or isolate individuals from chemical, physical and biological hazards that may be encountered at a hazardous materials incident.1,2 No single type of PPE can protect all hazards and incorrect use can cause harm to the wearer. In general, the greater the protection, the greater the associated risks.2 Therefore, the level of PPE selected should be the one that can provide adequate level of protection.

Prehospital Response to Hazmat Incidents

Hazmat incidents rarely occur, but when they do they may cause tremendous casualties and terror among the community. The chemical leakage in Bhopal of India in 1984 resulted in 2500 deaths and injured more than 150,000.1 The Sarin attack in Tokyo subway station caused more than 10 deaths and 5,000 people were affected.2 Therefore, both industrial chemical leakage and terrorist attack using chemical agents is a major concern to any cosmopolitan city. To best manage these incidents, we need a well written contingency response plan involving local government departments, the Police Department, the Fire Service Department and the receiving hospitals.

Hospital Authority HAZMAT Incident Contingency Plan

Hospital Authority HAZMAT Incident Contingency Plan

NBC Delta: special training beyond HAZMAT in the USA

In response to a possible terrorist threat using nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) weapons, the US government has set up a special Domestic Preparedness Program which includes a training section for paramedical and other responders to bridge the gap between a conventional HAZMAT incident and one involving NBC agents. The program, which is a partnership between six federal agencies, covers aspects of recognition and management of incidents which may not be within the normal experience of emergency medical services personnel, and builds upon their existing knowledge and training.

Identifying and managing conjoint threats: Earthquake-induced hazardous materials releases in the US

Hazardous materials (hazmat), in many forms, are ubiquitous in modern society. Not only are they present in manufacturing and commercial establishments, but also in homes, medical facilities, laboratories and schools. Further, hazmat is transported by truck and rail and pipeline and stored in large tanks. Indeed, these materials are both integrated into communities in fixed facilities and circulate through neighborhoods in the transportation process. In areas that are vulnerable to earthquakes, the presence of hazmat poses special problems. This article examines the nature of earthquake-induced hazmat releases, their likelihood and their impact on emergency response systems. It is argued that hazmat incidents become an additional diaster agent that must be integrated into the management framework for earthquakes. Under specified conditions, an earthquake could initiate releases from many sources simultaneously, severely taxing the emergency management system. Further, earthquake-related obstacles to emergency response severely hamper the management of hazmat releases. These obstacles include loss of communication capacity, overload of the emergency medical system, loss of warning systems for the public, and impediments to incident access caused by road buckling, fires, rubble, structural collapse and flooding from damaged water mains. A case review of the hazmat problems that arose during the Northridge earthquake is reported to identify challenges posed for emergency managers. The article closes with a series of recommendations for mitigation, preparedness and emergency response.

Training of Highway Maintenance Personnel for Hazmat Incident Response

A review of the recent history of hazardous materials (hazmat) training concludes that there is a need for more focused training for small communities' handling of hazardous materials and that this fact has been recognized for several years but never implemented. The recent Hazardous Materials Training Safety Act attempts to address this problem. However, the training needs of highway maintenance workers may not be being addressed adequately, and the importance of such training may not be generally recognized. The paper emphasizes this need based on reviewing the worker's needs and presenting conclusions from a 50-state survey. It is emphasized that in regard to hazardous materials incident response training, the highway maintenance worker should not be forgotten. The paper suggests training levels and makes the point that training should be consistent with expected actions—planned or unplanned. The paper concludes with a set of several questions that should be addressed by any state when setting future p...

Hazardous Materials Incidents: A One-Year Retrospective Review in Central California

AbstractObjective:This study describes the epidemiology of hazardous materials (hazmat) incidents in Fresno County, California, and analyzes the emergency medical services (EMS) response to these incidents.Setting:The study area has a population of 635,000 people living in an area of 6,004 square miles.Design:All Hazmat Emergency Response Team (HERT) reports and related prehospital, emergency department, and inpatient records from ljuly 1988 through 30 June 1989 were reviewed retrospectively.Results:There were 107 hazmat incidents involving 156 materials consisting of pesticides (24.4%), miscellaneous chemicals (17.3%), corrosives (16.7%), petroleum products (13.5%), airborne toxins (10.2%), organic solvents (7.7%), unidentified chemicals (5.1%), infectious medical waste (1.9%), empty containers with radioactive warning symbols but without detectable radiation (1.3%), heavy metals (1.3%), and alkali metals (0.6%). In ten (9%) of the 107 incidents, 68 patients required on-scene evaluation and 26 patients were transported to emergency departments. Four of these patients required admission, three because of injuries due to vehicular accidents, and one because of a coincidental cere-brovascular accident. Five incidents produced multiple victims from exposures to airborne toxins, accounting for 63 (93%) of 68 patients. Spills of solid or liquid pesticides occurred in four incidents involving patients. Ambulance personnel and/or equipment became contaminated in three of these four incidents.Conclusions:1) Ambulances should be dispatched selectively to hazmat incidents because only 9% of incidents involved patients. 2) training should emphasize personnel protection and proper patient decontamination to help prevent contamination of EMS personnel and equipment. 3) Preparation of EMS personnel should emphasize exposure to airborne toxins because these produced 93% of patients.