2008 Emergency Response Guidebook; Electronic Version will be Available

[Guest guest]

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

7/2/2007

2008 Emergency Response Guidebook; Electronic Version will be Available

Environmental

Two federal agencies joined forces to give fire fighters and other emergency

responders instant access to information that will help them – in the first

critical moments of an incident – determine the best way to safely contain

hazardous materials spills and battle chemical fires.

Emergency responders will for the first time have _electronic access_

(http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/) through laptops and personal digital assistants

(PDAs)

to the 2008 Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) under the new effort between

the U.S. Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Health and Human Services

(HHS). The guidebook is the go-to reference for first responders to help them

quickly identify hazardous material classifications, determine the best

response, and protect themselves and the general public immediately after an

incident.

“This new digital tool will give our police, fire fighters, and other

emergency responders first on the scene the information they need to make the

rapid-fire decisions necessary to protect the public and themselves,†said Ted

Willke, PHMSA associate administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety.

The new electronic guidebook is being made possible by a new agreement signed

between DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)

and the HHS’s National Library of Medicine.

The library developed special software to give emergency responders access to

the guidebook through PDAs as well as Windows-based laptops and desktops.

The software application, called the Wireless Information System for Emergency

Responders (_WISER_ (http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/) ), will be available later

this year.

The 2004 version of the ERG (and eventually the 2008 version) can be found at

_http://hazmat.dot.gov/pubs/erg/gydebook.htm/_

(http://hazmat.dot.gov/pubs/erg/gydebook.htm/) . Although not available yet,

the printed version of the

_2008 ERG will be available at this link_

(http://www.ercweb.com/products/index.aspx?cat=2) (where the 2004 version is

still available).

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

Freelance Consultant/Trainer/Author/Journalist/Fire Protection Consultant

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