Hazmat IQ “Old School” BY STUART WEST, TORONTO FIRE ACTING CAPTAIN, STATION 111-B
I was asked to write an “old school” themed article for this edition of Hazmat IQ. It was suggested that the topic of discussion could include the ways in which Hazmat response in the fire service has changed over the years. Happy to oblige, I began to think about all the ways in which Hazmat response has changed. Although the fire service has been responding to Hazmat related calls for well over 100 years, organized Hazmat response is still relatively new, having a history of approximately 40 years. The most profound changes that have occurred have clearly stemmed from the professionalization of Hazmat response, including the new technologies that have become available. These technologies
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have brought us many new types of detection and identification equipment, in addition to vast resources available in terms of research for chemical information. As a response to the September 11th terror attacks in 2001, federal monies became available to provide funding for new training programs and equipment acquisition. In response to this new threat, a new adjunct to Hazmat response was created: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive (CBRNE). Previously, CBRNE had largely been something only the military was concerned with. Within North America, large scale, coordinated terrorist attacks were now seen by intelligence agencies as being not just possible, but probable.
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