The first job of any emergency responder arriving on scene is to detect the presence of a hazardous material. The Common Sense Approach to Hazardous Materials covers the basic approach to hazardous materials, focusing on the fundamental aspects of chemistry with regard to specific fire theories and classes of hazardous materials that the emergency responder is likely to face. Readers will gain sufficient knowledge of chemistry to recognizethe presence of a hazardous material, identify what that material is, evaluate what will happen if an attack is or is not mounted, and then use common sense in handling the incident.
Mastering the hazards and characteristics of every chemical used today, along with the thousands of new ones added annually, is next to impossible. But, it is possible to learn the general hazards and characteristics of a handful of classes of hazardous materials. This book is designed to teach the hazards of each class of hazardous materials and the cross hazards of individual chemicals in those hazard classes. As long as you can place a particular chemical within a particular hazard class, you will gain a head start on handling the incident safely.
In the past, hazardous materials incidents were almost always accidents, either in transportation, storage, or in home or industrial use. Today, hazardous materials incidents may be a deliberate release of a chemical warfare agent by a foreign or domestic terrorist. The third edition of The Common Sense Approach to Hazardous Materials includes a new chapter covering each class of chemical warfare agents.
The Common Sense Approach to Hazardous Materials, Third Edition is an excellent resource for emergency responders and those persons involved in departmental training programs or curriculum development.
