SState Emergency Response Commission's

TRAINING TASK FORCE

Carr Building

3800 Commonwealth Boulevard , 170M

Tallahassee , Florida 32399

 

April 12, 2007

 

Present :

LEPC 1: Richard Delp

LEPC 2: Richard Smith

LEPC 3: Dwayne Mundy

LEPC 4: Jonathan Lamm

LEPC 5: Jamie Arleo

LEPC 6: Jerry Smith

LEPC 7: Gary Weiss

LEPC 8: Bill Lofgren

LEPC 9: Douglas Wolfe

LEPC 10: Chris Bushman

LEPC 11: Don Perdue, TTF Chair

Mike Jacobs (Department of Health)

Greg Lee (Department of Environmental Protection)

Mike Murphy ( Florida Fire Chiefs' Association)

Susan Schell (State Fire Marshal's Office)

 

I. Introduction

 

The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence for our soldiers in combat. The members and the audience introduced themselves.

 

II. Emergency Room Training (OSHA Standards/Guidance)

 

Mr. Mike Jacobs introduced Mr. John Wilgis of the Florida Hospital Association. Mr. Wilgis began by explaining the difference between the First Responder (which include firefighters, EMS/rescue, law enforcement, hazardous materials teams, disaster medical assistance teams, etc)., and First Receivers (which include hospital workers, basically the emergency room workforce of doctors, nurses, respiratory technicians, the decontamination teams, which come later, and of course, ancillary staff). Some of the challenges for first receivers include little or no warning, hazardous material information is not readily available, large number of self-referred victims, and no prior decontamination.

 

Mr. Wilgis advised that personal protective equipment is vital to ensure the safety of the first receiver and requires much training. Personal protective equipment selection is governed by the U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) Best Practices and includes powered air purifying respirators, chemical resistant garments, head covering, double layer of gloves and chemical protective boots. Hazardous Materials teams have to consider Levels A, B and C suits, considering that Level A is almost impossible to properly don in a timely fashion and is seldom needed away from the site of the decontamination. OSHA guidance for personal protective equipment Best Practice comes in three sections: Section A – Introduction of subject matter; Section B – Detailed analysis and personal protective equipment requirements, and Section C – Discussion of training requirements.

 

The 2006 Core Competency Training consists of three levels as follows: Awareness Level – competencies common for all hospital employees regardless of emergency or disaster encountered; Mid Level – personnel whose response role may require them to protect and assist persons exposed to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive agents and/or trauma related emergency or disaster; and/or control the spread of these agents from person to person or in the hospital environment and finally, the Advanced Level – requires sufficient knowledge and experience to demonstrate competency in response role in such areas as advanced personal protective equipment; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive agents; job-specific competencies and decontamination.

 

The Core Competency Training is required to meet OSHA guidelines and is based on OSHA standards and recommendations to include: Best Practices, 20 CFR1920.120 Hazwoper Standard, 29 CFR 1910.132 Personal Protective Equipment Standard, and 29 CFR 1910.134 Respiratory Protection Standard. Hospital decontamination teams are specific to OSHA letters of interpretation which include a minimum of 8 hours of training on job specific topics and even more training may be indicated. There are annual refresher training requirements with documented competencies.

 

The next step is to sustain/improve hospital training and exercises; chemical, biological and radiological response plans; equipment and supplies; customizing Emergency Management Plans; hazard vulnerability analysis; and partnering with community resources. Communication among all players is critical.

 

III. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's E-Plan Program – Mr. Jim Staves

 

Mr. Jim Staves of U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) gave a presentation on the E-Plan System. The E-Plan system is a secure web-based system (free to first responders) that collects emergency contact and hazardous material data submitted under the Agency's reporting requirements such as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act and the Accidental Release and Prevention Act/Risk Management Planning Program. As facilities continue to utilize the Agency's available reporting software such as Tier2Submit, CAMEO fm and RMP*Info to submit information, the

E-Plan System stores the information and first responders can gain access to this information. The E-Plan system is also linked to chemical hazards data from the U. S. Department of Transportation's Emergency Response Guidebook, Material Safety Data Sheets, the Chemical Hazards Response Information System, CAMEO's Response Information Data Sheets, the NIOSH pocket guide and other public sector sources. The system is designed to accommodate the Oil Pollution Act's facility response plans, local emergency planning committee plans and area contingency plans.

 

To maintain free access to first responders, E-Plan depends on federal funding for personnel and computer systems that serve the entire nation. Maintenance costs are approximately $600,000/year for E-Plan operation. E-Plan is ready for nationwide deployment. There are multiple approaches to national deployment each with a different time frame and costs.

 

At this time, Florida does not accept electronic reporting. However, staff will research the E-Plan system to determine whether the current database used to store the chemical information (Hazardous Materials Information System) can be used with this system.

 

The demo site for E-plan is www.erplan.net . The user ID: demo-im. Password: training. For additional information, contact Jim Staves at (204) 780-3417 or e-mail staves.james@epa.gov .

 

IV. Florida Hazardous Materials Responders (FLAHR) Update

 

There was no representative from FLAHR at the meeting. Mr. Doug Wolfe advised that a Hazardous Materials/Urban Search and Rescue team workshop is scheduled for April 30-May 2, 2007 at the Tradewinds in St. Petersburg Beach . Among other agenda items, the hazardous materials field operations guide will be addressed.

 

V. 2007 Strategic Plan Action Items

 

A strategic planning session was held April 11, 2007. The overall mission, vision, goals and strategies of the Task Force were reviewed. Although the Task Force was unable to discuss all of the projects (current and proposed), the format for developing each project sheet was developed. The two lists of projects (current and proposed) were combined into the new format and was assigned and distributed at today's meeting. Each member receiving an assignment was to review the project, identify tasks with completion dates, and identify responsible party for each task. Once the information for each project is complete (within 30 days), the project sheet should be e-mailed to Ms. Sheri Powers. Each project sheet will be combined into a master project list and will be e-mailed back to the members for review and comment. Once finalized, the complete project list will be provided to the State Emergency Response Commission for review and approval.

 

VI. Other Business

 

Mr. Chris Aguirre of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue gave a quick presentation on the “HazMat IQ Four Step System” known as the “Smart Chart” that was developed as a tool to assist first responders at a hazardous materials incident make quick and informative decisions regarding the required level of personal protective equipment, isolation area, reactivity, etc. Mr. Aguirre demonstrated the ease of using this tool by walking through the process using several different chemical names.

 

Mr. Perdue requested all members to provide Ms. Powers with their correct contact information. This information will be used to update the roster and will be e-mailed to each member for their use.

 

Mr. Wolfe informed the members that the Florida Fire Chiefs' Association is conducting a training needs analysis for the Special Teams Conference. The conference is likely to be scheduled in the Fall of 2007. There are two surveys to be completed by the team leaders and for the team members addressing hazardous material and technical rescue. Mr. Wolfe stated that he would forward the surveys to Ms. Powers who will forward to all of the Task Force members.

 

Mr. Jerry Smith requested clarification on who the Local Emergency Planning Committee can provide access to the data collected during Hazardous Material Team reassessments. Mr. Perdue stated that the data collected during the reassessments was not public information and was to be used by their District's Training Committee to identify areas needing additional training. It was also agreed that the members of the Task Force would receive a copy of the data collected during the reassessment.

Ms. Powers stated that the Division of Emergency Management was recently reorganized and shared the new organizational chart. The Hazardous Materials Planning and Prevention Section is now housed in the Bureau of Preparedness (Technological Hazards Section) under the direction of Ms. Carla Boyce. Although reassignments have been made, final approval is required from the Department of Management Services.

 

VII. Issues for the State Emergency Response Commission (Commission)

 

There were two items identified by the Task Force to be brought to the Commission for action.

•  Request that the Commission prepare a follow-up letter to the Domestic Security Oversight Council requesting resolution to the designation of radio frequency for the hazardous materials response teams.

•  Request that a Certificate of Appreciation and letter be prepared for Ms. Eve Rainey in recognition of her hard work and dedication to the Training Task Force and the hazardous materials field overall.

 

VIII. Schedule Next Meeting

 

The next meeting will be held on July 12, 2007 in Tallahassee .

 

IX. Adjournment

 

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.