This 40-hour class is designed for to train Emergency Responders and other
people who need to know the chemistry of hazardous materials. It addresses the
need to know how to respond safely to incidents involving toxic and hazardous
materials from a chemical perspective. It covers general and organic chemistry
as well as such topics as toxicology, environmental monitoring, explosives,
incendiaries and the chemistry of fire. This class doesn’t teach “balancing
equations” or how to do detailed calculations. Instead it concentrates on
teaching the responder to better understand the hazards associated with families
of materials and what potentially could happen at an incident. No prior
knowledge of chemistry is assumed. A separate section deals extensively with the
hazards associated with the possible use of Weapons of Mass Destruction in a
domestic environment.
