HazSim LLC articles

Firefighter hazmat training is fraught with problems, not the least of which is how to conduct meaningful training that keeps hazmat responders safe and makes them more effective without creating an actual hazmat incident. 

Career firefighter Phil Ambrose, who now serves as battalion chief, wrestled with that problem - and ultimately did something about it. He created a software-driven platform that delivers realistic hazmat training up and down the incident response and command

Hazmat Training Debrief will give you a quick recap of interesting hazmat training going on. This week we look at recent training conducted by Scott Luciano, from Specialty Response Solutions, with members of the Memphis (Tenn.) Fire Department.

Michael Wilson joined the fire service in 2003 and jumped from hazmat ops to hazmat technician in 2013. At the start of Covid in 2020, he was named hazmat team leader for MABAS Division 10. MABAS stands for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System and is based in Illinois and extends to surrounding states. It functions as a clearing house for emergency response resources tha

Hazmat incidents involving rail cars don’t happen often, but when they do they are often major incidents. When fire departments and hazmat teams need to train for these incidents they often turn to the railroads for help.

And that’s a smart move, says Cristofer Burch. Lt. Burch is a 25-year fire service veteran who is Norfolk Southern Railway’s instructor manager for hazard

Grant money is an excellent resource to acquire additional funding for equipment and services that exceed your department’s budget. Grants will assist in paying for training systems that will benefit crews operationally. 

Securing additional funding allows your organization to provide the most realistic training in a safe work environment for firefighters, Hazmat technicians and students helping ensure public health and safety guidelines are also met.

Submitting you

Here’s a great tool to springboard into refresher hazmat training!

Even the most hazmat-phobic firefighter understands that chemical agents are added to odorless natural gas to make it obvious when there’s a leak. Beyond that most baseline of basic knowledge, firefighter understanding how odor agents work and how to detect the danger behind the smell can be all over the map.

Whether you teach hazmat to new cadets, conduct annual refresher courses o

Our profession is complex and dangerous. Oddly, some often need to remind themselves of this. 

Many of us are not only hazmat professionals but also EMTs, paramedics, firefighters, company commanders, law enforcement officers, EH&S specialists, lab safety specialists, risk managers, confined-space technicians, USAR technicians, WMD specialists, apparatus operators, grief counselors, supervisors, parents, spouses … and the list goes on. And we are expected to be profici