Pesticides

With more than 2 billion pounds of pesticides used yearly in the United States, these potentially deadly chemicals can be found almost anywhere. Likely locations include agricultural producers, greenhouses, cattle ranches, grain storage facilities, chemical plants, railroads, golf courses, hardware stores, airports and homes. This video on demand course explains the many forms of pesticides, their various properties and toxicities, and strategies for dealing with the environmental hazards presented by pesticides' uncontrolled release.

This course discusses hazards classified by Environmental Protection Agency warning labels, and reference materials to help emergency personnel identify pesticides and plan strategies for responding to situations. Considerations when selecting personal protective equipment, including respirators and suits are covered in detail. Viewers get a snapshot of the tough decisions to be made when responding to fires where pesticides may be present, and get pointers for containing uncontrolled discharges of these hazardous substances.

Viewers watch a case study of an improperly handled pesticide emergency in Europe, which resulted in 50 miles of the Rhine River being declared a dead zone, which reinforces the consequences of emergency response decisions and protocols. The video includes demonstrations of how to decontaminate and provide emergency treatment to victims, as well as proper emergency responder decontamination and site clean-up procedures.

This comprehensive video explains the life-and-death decisions to be made when dealing with a fire or other emergency situation involving pesticides. This critical training will help first responders keep themselves, their environment and communities safe.

   This course is in the Video On Demand format, to read about Video On Demand features click here.

Emergency response teams, first responders, firefighters or anyone else who may be involved in responding to a hazardous material incident

• Introduction
• Forms of Pesticides
• Occupancies Where Found
• Hazards of Pesticides
• Safe Storage
• Safe Use
• Case Study
• Initial Response
• Pesticide Labels and Placards
• Protective Actions
• Managing Victims
• Firefighting
• Leak & Spill Response
• Decon & Clean-up
• Conclusion