? ? The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is requesting $1,500,000 during the initial budget period and $7,959,497 for the total period of the HAZMAT Training at DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex Cooperative Agreement. Emergency personnel responding to incidents related to the DOE complex face health and safety challenges involving radioactive and other hazardous materials. Since 1994, an average of 2,200 responders have been injured at hazardous materials incidents annually. Many more suffer serious health effects from toxic exposure associated with fire fighting and EMS response. The effective remedy to combat these challenges is a flexible training program that emphasizes occupational safety and health and OSHA-defined responder training as a key to effective emergency response. The IAFF proposes to continue to implement such a proven training plan. This effort relies heavily on the provision of comprehensive specialized training pertaining to specific response hazards and an efficient Train-the-Trainer approach. It offers course formats which can be customized to the specific hazards faced by a given target audience; uses a combination of the Internet and Advanced Training Technologies (ATT) and regional programs. The estimated 1,000 annual attendees leave the course with the knowledge and the tools needed to implement this program in local fire/rescue departments in and around ten specified DOE sites, as well as other regions upon request. The IAFF is the only national organization serving professional fire fighters and enjoys long standing training partnerships and access with fire/rescue departments across the U.S. Our training curricula are current, focused and ready to be delivered. In addition, we have a highly regarded 85-member professional firefighter/paramedic instructor team trained in using facilitation techniques and problem-based learning to reinforce responder safety and health. It is a state-of-the-art program with a focused safety and health message provided by experienced, committed instructors. ? ?
