US EPA announces emergency response training plan

19 December 2001 18:55  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (CNI)--The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Wednesday the availability of a free emergency response training program aimed at protecting the public from and responding to chemical emergencies.

A notice distributed today by the EPA's chemical emergency preparedness and prevention office (CEPPO) said the CD-ROM program is available from the non-profit group National Institute for Chemical Studies (NICS) in Charleston, West Virginia.

According to NICS, the program titled "Protecting the public in a hazardous material emergency" will "be helpful to anyone responsible for planning emergency responses to chemical accidents and to those who actually respond to them."

Jan Taylor, NICS vice president and projects director, said the training program would benefit government officials with public safety responsibilities, local emergency planning committees, state emergency response commissions and the safety staffs at companies that produce, store or transport chemicals.

The program's four modules cover a wide variety of issues, including assessing risk populations, defining communications capabilities, emergency response decision factors and evaluating protective action needs. The CD-ROM can be ordered from NICS's Web site at http://www.nicsinfo.org/.

NICS spokesman David Dodrill said the group's emergency response training program has been in development since well before the 11 September terrorist attacks against New York City and Washington, DC.

By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653

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