The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Fire Safety Educational Memorial Fund Committee selected the Salina Fire Department HazMat Response Team (HMRT) as the recipient of the 2012 Warren E. Isman Educational Grant.
“The Salina Fire Department Hazmat Response Team is a proven leader in community involvement, education, emergency communications, and implementing cutting edge technologies,” said Ken Isman, chair of the Warren E. Isman Task Force, a subcommittee of the Fire Safety Educational Memorial Fund Committee and son of the late Chief Warren Isman. “We are pleased to provide this award to members of Salina’s HazMat team and support continued training as it applies to this particular field.”
Award recipients select a conference where they can attend specialized hazardous materials training and education sessions. The selected team has the opportunity to gain knowledge and enhance their ability to excel in this specialized field. The funds from the 2012 Isman Grant will make it possible for the Salina Fire Department HMRT to attend the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ (IAFC) International Hazardous Materials Response Teams Conference in Baltimore, Md., May 2012.
The Salina Fire Department HMRT is a dual fire and EMS service providing fire suppression, EMS, Hazmat as well as technical rescue response for the city of Salina. The department’s HazMat Team is also under contract with the state of Kansas serving as a State Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team. They respond to an average of 130 hazmat-related incidents a year ranging from small fuel spills to highway tanker roll-overs.
The $5000 grant is available to any established incident response team from a fire department, police department or other public-funded program. Qualified applicants are evaluated on leadership qualities, communication abilities, and must have been trained in accordance with NFPA 472, Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents, and NFPA 473, Standard for Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents.