The International Association of Fire Chiefs reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. They will lead the development of a new data center that will collect and analyze hazardous-materials incident data to enhance first-responder tactics, operations, policy and training.

The Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Fusion Center will build a secure, web-based network to facilitate information sharing for first responders training for and responding to hazardous materials incidents. It will be the first such hazmat data center for the first-responder community, but both the effort to create it and the results it will produce will encompass a broader range of stakeholders. IAFC says the center will provide crucial knowledge for all decision makers on the transportation and delivery of hazardous materials.

“Our new partnership will help us do a better job accessing and sharing information to improve the safety of hazardous materials transportation,” said PHMSA Acting Administrator Krista Edwards. “It will prevent accidents and improve our capability to respond to those we cannot prevent.”

Under the agreement, IAFC will spearhead the project, providing program management, technical advisors and subject matter expertise, and will establish initial data-collection efforts. The cooperative agreement is for one year with options to renew for four additional one-year terms. The first year will focus on establishing the data center’ technical and human elements from the ground up.

“The IAFC is proud to be a part of this landmark project with the Department of Transportation,” said IAFC President Chief Steven P. Westermann. “The days of moving forward on program policy decisions and technical solutions without data are over. The fire and emergency service, government and industry will finally have the national-level information they need to create effective, data-driven practices for response and mitigation to hazardous materials incidents.”

The Hazmat Fusion Center will serve three purposes.

• Information collection, which will include developing a central location for the collection of information on the nation’s hazmat teams (location, capabilities, equipment, etc.); creating a repository for hazmat incident reporting on a secure web portal and a toll-free phone number for incident reporting; forming Regional Incident Survey Teams, which will be deployed to serious hazmat incidents to collect information on first-responder activity; developing a method for increased communication and trust-building among the nation’s first-responder hazmat community; and incorporating information from various sources (utilizing the Enterprise Approach of the U.S. Department of Transportation), including federal agencies and the private sector.
• Analysis of information collected, which will include developing effective practices, planning tools and resources for first responders; creating after-action reports from RIST-investigated hazmat incidents ; providing recommended requirements for equipment and training for hazmat teams; identifying trends and patterns for the prevention and mitigation of hazmat incidents; interpreting data to assist the development of high-tech hazmat response equipment and training; and ensuring that multi-agency reporting is streamlined so a redundant reporting system is not created.
• Dissemination of information and analysis, which will include recommendations for safely responding to hazmat incidents; training materials for first responders (such as quarterly curriculum materials, training drills, conferences, and e-mail blasts); identification of the most frequently shipped and most hazardous materials; data-based recommendations to industry and transporters for improved safety of shipping containers and processes; and data for use inclusion in national-level decision-making processes.