Emergency Response
Emergency Preparedness
Emergency preparedness includes:
- LEPC interface
- Information system to community
- Wally Wise Guy™ education
- Community/industry drills
More than 500,000 products can pose physical or health hazards and are defined as hazardous materials. A hazardous material incident may occur in your county. On the average, the Division of Emergency Management is involved in hundreds of hazardous-material related incidents annually. Accidents involving chemical substances have occurred in communities across the country.
Industry must be involved with their community to help them prepare for a transportation emergency or fixed facility release.
STEP can help coordinate your emergency preparedness requirements.
Preparing
- Ask your local fire department about emergency warning procedures.
- Find out precise information about where reportable quantities of extremely hazardous substances are stored and where they are used.
- Attend your Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meetings.
- Find out about community plans for responding to hazardous materials accidents.
- Be prepared to evacuate or shelter in place.
- Have materials available to seal off your residence/building from airborne contamination.
Responding
- If you are a witness, call 911 or your local fire department.
- If you hear a warning signal, listen to local radio or television stations for further information. Follow all instructions.
- Stay away from the incident site to minimize the risk of contamination.
- If caught outside - stay upstream, uphill or upwind.
- If you are in a car - close windows and shut off ventilation. Evacuate if told to do so.
- If local officials say there is time, close all windows, shut vents, and turn off attic fans and other ventilation systems to minimize contamination.
- To reduce the possibility of toxic vapors entering your home, seal all entry routes as efficiently as possible.
- If an explosion is imminent, close drapes, curtains and shades.
What to do
