The EMS profession is constantly changing, and it is up to first responders to stay current on emergency response guidelines and protocols.
Stay up-to-date on the latest guidelines for responding to a hazardous material emergency by obtaining a copy of the 2008 Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG), considered the standard in emergency management. The 2008 edition is the first release of the ERG since 2004 and will feature important new information.
New in the 2008 edition:
- Over fifty amendments to proper shipping names and ID numbers (United
Nations numbers) - Lists of hazardous materials will be updated
- Lithium Ion batteries entry will be added
- Ethanol entries and identification numbers will be added
- The “Initial Isolation and Protective Action Distance Table” will be split into two tables to better facilitate initial incident response actions for emergencies involving TIH (Toxic Inhalation Hazards)
The U.S. Department of Transportation has made it a goal to have the ERG as the “go-to” reference for responders dealing with hazardous emergencies, and want to place a copy in each emergency service vehicle, nationwide. To date, nearly nine million copies have been distributed without charge to the emergency responder community. Copies are made available free of charge to public emergency responders through the state coordinator (U.S. only) nearest you.
The ERG is developed jointly by the US Department of Transportation, Transport Canada, the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico (SCT), and with the collaboration of CIQUIME (Centro de Informacion Quimica para Emergencias) of Argentina.