You might imagine after serving as CHEMTREC®’s Director of Outreach & Special Programs for the past six years and engaging in hundreds of hazardous materials conferences from Sacramento, CA to Plymouth, MA, I have heard just about anything and everything. However, after meeting thousands of responders from coast to coast, the one comment that still seems to resonate the loudest and the one comment that best sums up CHEMTREC®’s value for the response community is without question the one that was shared with me during the FDIC Firefighting Training Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. During this fire conference and exposition, a seasoned Midwestern Hazmat Technician casually approached the joint CHEMTREC®/TRANSCAER® booth, reached his hand out to secure his coveted traditional yellow CHEMTREC® key tag and shared: “CHEMTREC® has saved my bacon more than once!”
For the past four decades, CHEMTREC®, which is a service of the American Chemistry Council, has been “saving lots of bacon” as the definitive information resource and solutions provider for hazardous materials and dangerous goods response. “For over 42 years – 24 hours a day – every day, CHEMTREC has provided free, timely and crucial information to responders having to deal with hazardous materials incidents,” said Randy Speight, CHEMTREC’s managing director.
CHEMTREC®’s connection to industry links to the largest network of chemical and hazardous material subject matter experts in the world, including chemical and response specialists, public emergency services and private contractors.
CHEMTREC® offers a broad range of critical resources that can help emergency responders mitigate incidents involving hazardous materials, such as:
- A round-the-clock communications center staffed by trained and experienced emergency service specialists;
- Immediate access to thousands of chemical product specialists and hazardous materials experts through CHEMTREC’s database of over 30,000 manufacturers, shippers, carriers, public organizations and private resources;
- A state-of-the-art telecommunications system that supports the virtual emergency response team, seamlessly linking on-scene responders with chemical experts, transportation companies, and medical experts;
- An expansive electronic library of over 5 million Safety Data Sheets (SDS);
- Immediate access to medical experts and toxicologists who provide advice and emergency medical treatment assistance to on-scene medical professionals treating victims of product exposure;
- Interpretation capabilities for more than 200 languages in the event of an emergency involving non-English speaking stakeholders; and
- In-country dial telephone numbers in more than 50 key countries around the world.
By having an on-going commitment to continue ensuring that all responders know and understand the value of including the CHEMTREC® into community response planning, three newly refreshed CHEMTREC® videos for Emergency Responders are now available on-line. These FREE instructional videos are available for download on the CHEMTREC® and the American Chemistry Council’s web sites.
Video 1: An Overview of CHEMTREC®
Video 2: How CHEMTREC® Helps First Responders
Video 3: What’s Being Said About CHEMTREC®
All three of these videos are also available on one FREE DVD. If you are interested in receiving a copy of this DVD, send your request along with your proper shipping information to [email protected].
“CHEMTREC’s vision is to continue to be recognized by emergency responders, industry, government, and others as the world’s foremost emergency call center for information on hazardous materials and dangerous goods,” stated Speight. “CHEMTREC® will be successful when every single emergency responder knows CHEMTREC®’s telephone number by heart and takes advantages of the resources we have to offer.”
If you are interested in scheduling a FREE training drill or exercise with CHEMTREC®, call our customer service staff at 1-800-262-8200, or from outside the USA or Canada at +1-703-741-5500. During an incident involving hazardous materials such as spills, leaks, fire, exposures or accidents, call CHEMTREC®’s emergency center at 1-800-424-9300.
CHEMTREC® is a national sponsor of TRANSCAER®. CHEMTREC® is also a cost-effective method to assist shippers of hazardous materials with compliance with government regulations.
For more information about CHEMTREC®, visit us at www.CHEMTREC.com.
