The Wichita Fire Department's Hazardous Materials (Haz-Mat) Response Team is composed of firefighters who have volunteered to receive specialized training in the prevention and mitigation of incidents involving hazardous materials. These firefighters provide this service in addition to their usual firefighting duties, with no extra compensation.

In the course of their Haz-Mat duties, these individuals are responsible for the safe termination of such complex incidents as fires involving hazardous materials, airplane crashes, train derailments, wrecks involving trucks and semi-trailers carrying chemicals, and medical incidents involving chemical use (and misuse) in the work place as well as in homes.

To safely accomplish this goal, team members are required to maintain a working knowledge of the following:

• highly specialized chemical protective clothing
• field use of complex scientific monitoring equipment
• safe methods of containing chemical spills
• correct techniques for "off-loading" chemicals from damaged containers into intact containers
• various reference materials to determine hazards of chemicals
• proper methods and locations for disposal of hazardous wastes
• basic chemistry

In addition, the team consults with the Fire Prevention Division concerning hazardous materials. The Haz-Mat crews conduct extensive "pre-incident" building surveys and inspections to better prepare the department's response in the event of a chemical emergency at designated "target hazard" locations throughout the city.

The team serves as a resource for the other fire stations concerning hazardous materials in their response area. Haz-Mat crews routinely answer questions concerning proper storage of hazardous materials, as well as other Haz-Mat concerns covered in the city's fire code ordinance.

The Haz-Mat team provides training for the entire fire department in the area of hazardous materials. This training is mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. The training includes hazards in the station work place, hazard awareness at incidents, incident analysis, mitigation methods, decontamination of personnel and equipment, and basic treatment for hazardous materials injuries and illnesses.

The Wichita Fire Department's Haz-Mat team has long been recognized as a leader in the field. Since the early 1980s, many team members have provided training for members of other fire departments, emergency medical services and health departments throughout the Midwest. The team maintains its own high level of proficiency by attending training sessions sponsored by such organizations as the National Fire Academy and the Environmental Protection Agency as well as regularly scheduled in service training.

The Wichita Fire Department's Haz-Mat team is a member of the Wichita-Sedgwick County Hazardous Materials Task Force. This is a countywide mutual aid agreement allowing the use of personnel, equipment and other resources to more adequately respond to incidents involving hazardous materials.

The Wichita Fire Department works very closely with the other members of the task force, namely the Sedgwick County Fire Department and the Wichita Environmental Services Department. These three organizations provide the "heart" of the task force, responding to each hazardous materials incident occurring in the county. The Wichita Police Department, Sedgwick County Sheriff's officers and the Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Service (EMS) all assist and support the task force with medical care, assistance in evacuation, traffic control, and providing disposal of severe explosion hazards through law enforcement bomb squads.

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