First responders need to be aware of the toxic chemicals that move through their areas and need to know how to respond to them. Transportation Community Awareness Emergency Response, or TRANSCAER, offers classroom and hands-on training about hazmat transportation and emergency planning, said Rolle Shook, TRANSCAER’s chairman. The group aims to educate local communities about hazmat transport near major transportation routes and how to respond to such incidents, Shook said.

“Communities — and those public agencies that serve them — need to be aware of what is moving through their community, either through waterways, highways or rail transportation,” he said. “TRANSCAER is an opportunity for chemical companies, transporters and government to go to communities that have chemicals flowing through them and train them to be prepared in case of an unfortunate accident, such as a chemical spill, a fire or a derailment.”

Specifically, TRANSCAER trains first responders on hazmat emergencies in relation to the National Incident Management System, or NIMS. Training is scheduled through regional and state coordinates who connect local responders with chemical and hazmat carriers and shippers, Shook said. The state coordinators then meet with local emergency planning committees and provide a flow study on chemicals moving through their specific area. They also offer training tools for first-responders, including take-home reference materials and technical information about chemicals and transportation equipment, he said.

“We teach [participants] about what kind of hazards are going through their local communities,” Shook said. “With that information, emergency planners can include such hazards in their emergency readiness plan and then train emergency responders on that plan.”

Coordinators also discuss TRANSCAER’s grants, which can be used to pay for community-education events. Grants range between $500 and $1,000, and the organization will offer $20,000 in total grants to communities in 2010, Shook said.

“Planners can purchase tents, tables, chairs or bottled water for those events,” he said. “Or agencies can put on whistle-stop tours to provide training to communities along a state’s rail corridors.”

TRANSCAER is sponsored by a voluntary group of chemical manufactures and transporters, including the Association of American Railroads and Renewable Fuel Association.

Interested communities can apply for grants and learn more about free training by visiting TRANSCAER’s Web site, Shook said.