Hazmat Rabbit Holes

Kevin Ryan

The world of hazmat response can be full of rabbit holes. The slang version of rabbit hole is defined by dictionary.com as an extremely engrossing or time-consuming topic. There are never ending options in equipment, tactics, training, and personnel. Technicians can easily become consumed when confronted with choices or when searching for more information. Quality training (yes, I used that phrase again) focused on solving the problem makes all the difference. Solving the problem means finding the simplest solution to solve that problem. The world of emergency response presents many rabbit holes to go down. A hazmat rabbit hole I have commonly seen is getting tunnel vision on the chemical involved in the incident. Chemical and Physical properties are important. Good research on chemicals involved determine PPE, detection, and incident actions. The issue I have seen arise is the lack of attention on solving the problem causing the release or spill. Here is an example everyone can relate to. Fire service responders take gas leak calls daily. A leaking natural gas valve has become compromised in some way. Natural gas is now escaping into the surrounding atmosphere. My question to students when I teach this scenario is this: Is the leaking gas or the damaged valve the problem? The real problem is the damaged or compromised valve. To solve the problem (i.e., bring the incident under control), the valve must be secured. Solving this problem may mean closing a downstream valve to stop the flow of gas. The gas that has been released is simply another scene hazard to deal with. PPE is the means that allows us to enter an atmosphere to solve this problem. Solving the problem from a technician’s perspective is no different. Let’s take a leaking nitric acid tank truck incident at a chemical processing facility.

SOLVE THE PROBLEM!!!

The leak starts from an incompatible gasket used in the flange of the valve. The volume leaking is about 5 gallons per hour and the tank truck contains 5,000 gallons. To solve this problem, the IC must address the leaking valve. The nitric (non-fuming) is simply presenting a hazard that forces technicians into Level A or B with appropriate hand and foot protection. The valve needs to be controlled until the tank can be off loaded. In the end a basic solution solved the issue. A double layer poly catch basin was created and wrapped around the valve. The truck only needed to travel one half mile to a containment area on the facility. Once in the containment area, the truck’s nitric acid load was emptied into holding tanks. The nitric acid was then turned into wastewater via chemical treatment. Tunnel vision at this incident could have forced unneeded entries when the simplest solution was the most efficient. Rabbit holes in hazmat can lead to disorganized debacles. Bio detection is one huge rabbit hole when faced with preparing for a suspicious substance in a threat letter. Several detection options exist for these scenarios. Protein checks, immunoassays, basic papers, IR, and PCR are some of the choices you can make. The challenge becomes which of these do you utilize? It would be easy to choose them all. The problem with this rabbit hole is the time spent in the hot zone. We are fortunate in the City of Baltimore to have the state lab in our backyard. Any incident we encounter with a high level of threat and credibility is automatically going to the lab for a definitive evaluation. Presumptive testing in the field is just that. Protein checks are nicknamed the 50\50’s (half right, half wrong), immunoassays can experience false positives and field PCR demands proper sampling techniques along with a 25-minute run time not including sample collection and preparation. What is the goal here? Do we do a basic CBRN check then send it to the lab for definitive testing? Should we spend the extra time in the hot zone knowing our samples have to go to the lab no matter what? The answer lies somewhere in the middle of both options as no two scenarios are cookie cutter in nature. Your decision making should be guided by solving the problem and avoiding the rabbit hole. The minutia of the incident must be considered however it cannot drive an incident to closure. Rabbit holes in hazmat equate to tunnel vision. The IC must see the big picture to solve the problem at hand. Avoid the rabbit holes, solve the problem.

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!!!

Kevin Ryan

Kevin Ryan leads the Baltimore City FD Hazmat Operations Office. A 31-year veteran of the fire service with 26 years of experience in the world of hazmat response. He is a Level III instructor and adjunct at the BCFD Fire Academy.