GILA COUNTY DIVISION of HEALTH & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

GILA COUNTY DIVISION of HEALTH & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 5515 South Apache Ave., Suite 100, Globe, AZ 85501 PHONE: (928) 402-8811 FAX: (928) 425-0794

NEWS RELEASE Hazardous Materials Certification Course in Gila County a Success

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PUBLIC INFORMATION CONTACT: Date: July 29, 2015 Time: 10:00 am Michael O’Driscoll Globe, Arizona (928) 402-8767

The Gila County Office of Emergency Management recently hosted a three-day, operations-level hazardous materials certification course in Globe. Twenty-four local law enforcement officers attended the class, along with Gila County emergency medical services personnel.

This course provides the knowledge and skills needed to obtain certification through the National Professional Qualifications System (NPQS/Pro Board) as an operations-level responder.

This three-day course focuses on the unique response and personal protection challenges that responders face during a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)/terrorist incident or a Hazardous Materials (HazMat) incident. The operations-level training prepares emergency responders from all disciplines to recognize and identify hazardous material and to mitigate a HazMat incident by preventing further contamination of people, property, and the environment.

This course is based on National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) consensus standard operations-level core competencies and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) mission-specific competency, as well as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Federal Regulations and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) response regulations.

Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities may be requested. Countywide TTY (928) 425-0839