Analyzing the Incident: Dan Kennan

The Hazmat Legends Series presents more than 25 nationally recognized leading hazmat responders - with more than 900 years of combined boots on the ground experience. As influential instructors, widely read authors and hazmat responders, they have seen it all and now in this exciting and comprehensive series, they explain how and why hazmat teams do the things they do. These exciting programs cover it all - whether you have new recruits to train or want to provide a stimulating refresher for your team.

Whether you are trained to the operations, technician or command level, the first task of every first responder to a hazmat or WMD emergency is the same. It's size up - or what the NFPA standard on hazmat competencies calls Analyzing the Incident. A systematic risk-based response begins with an analysis of the problem - assessing the hazards, evaluating the potential consequences and then choosing the best response actions.

Dan Kennan has been a firefighter and hazmat responder for the City of Oakland Fire Services Agency since 1991. He is certified by CSTI (California Specialized Training Institute) as a Hazardous Materials Instructor. Dan felt a need to promote hazardous materials training with the use of live chemical demonstrations and this interest fueled the development of his course called Fun With Chemistry. Dan is a past recipient of the James H. Meidl "Instructor of the Year" Award sponsored by California State Fire Marshal. He is a consultant to HazTech Systems Inc., manufacturers of the HazCat Kit ®. He has been teaching Field Identification of Unknowns classes for over ten years. He has made use of his experience and expertise to teach Advanced Field Identification of Unknown Hazardous Substances to federal EPA On-Scene-Coordinators at their Nationwide Training conference. Dan is also a consultant with Davis Defense Group where he teaches response to Chemical Warfare Agent laboratories. In this clip, Dan discusses the issues and dangers when cylinders are involved in a hazmat incident.

And now for a limited time, the Hazmat Legends Series, along with four resource CD-ROMs with PowerPoint presentations, testing materials, risk management case studies, and additional resources to help instructors with seminar presentations, can be yours for FREE when you purchase the Hazardous Materials: Managing the Incident Series. Check here for more details . . .