Members of Cameco Emergency Response Team have been hazardous material requalifying at the Eastern Ontario Emergency Training Academy in Norwood.
Resource Planning and Emergency Response Supervisor Jason Whitelaw said members of the Emergency Response Team spend approximately 20 days a year including Tuesday, October 19, 2021 at the Eastern Ontario Emergency Training Academy.
Each responder goes through approximately 40-hours a year doing training simulating hazardous material spills and live fire.
“Hazardous material (haz mat) training is something we specialize with at the company.”
During the days training along with the teaching re-qualifications, emergency responders also took part in a number of different scenarios.
Working in teams, wearing breathing apparatus, dressed in hazardous material suits the team dealt with everything from capping a leak on a simulated tank car, containing a nitric acid spill, rescuing a person while providing a water curtain on a ammonia leak and capping a leak with a Lorenz clamp.
“When we get into wearing Level A (haz mat) suits, it really doesn’t allow your body to breathe,” said Whitelaw.
“It very quickly gets up to 96-98 degrees Fahrenheit and it’s not unrealistic to wear a suit for 30-minutes.”
“So even on cooler days, heat stress is a major factor that we have to deal with.”
Responders also have to contend with the limited visibility when wearing the suits.
“A lot of times you’ll see the guys reaching up with towel to clean the inside. That’s literally condensation building up inside the suit.”
A major part of the training is the responder familiarizing themselves with the suit.
“When wearing a Level A suit you’re wearing three pairs of gloves, so even a simple task like picking up a pen becomes difficult.”
Cameco also uses other areas of the facility throughout the year to practice live fire training using propane.
“Norwood is a great place to come too.”
“It gives you lots of opportunities like the burn tower and search and rescue.”
“What’s great about the facility is everything is on a “dead man’s” switch.”
“Should we have an issue with any of the burn props, we release the switch and the fire goes out in two-to-three seconds.”
In the training tower there is a heat sensor that if the temperature gets above 500 degrees Fahrenheit the tower self vents.
Whitelaw said the more the responders practice, the more they will feel comfortable in the suits and if the need arises it will be second nature to them.
“We focus everything on safety – it’s paramount within our facility.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
