Hazmat Fusion Center Launches Interactive Web Portal
After three years of research and development, the National Hazardous Materials Fusion Center (Hazmat Fusion Center) has launched its own web portal.
The soft launch of the public website was held in August during Fire-Rescue International. The nationwide release, scheduled for tomorrow at the opening session of the HOTZONE Conference in Houston, gives the hazmat community access to the entire portal, including the members-only area and the incident reporting system.
The purpose of the Hazmat Fusion Center is to promote hazmat responder safety through a systematic approach to hazmat-response data collection, analyses, and information dissemination. The goal is to provide all hazmat responders—regardless of response discipline—with access to the same vital information in a timely manner.
The website features training materials, resources, summary incident reports, statistics and trends, news, and general hazmat information.
Many of the training materials and reports on the public area have been produced by the Fusion Center’s Regional Incident Survey Teams (RISTs). The teams gather lessons learned and smart practices from incidents to be shared with the hazmat community. Users can view the two latest RIST produced products, a Chemical Assisted Suicide Responder Information Sheet (PDF) and the Hydrochloric Acid Training Package.
The members only area of the portal gives registered users access to full RIST incident reports, and the ability to network with others in the hazmat community through an online forum.
In addition, the Hazmat Fusion Center has an incident-reporting system that hazmat teams can use to enter their incidents and then perform their own analysis and produce reports.
Eventually, local teams will be able to compare their incidents with what is happening in their states, regions, etc. By collecting this information, the Hazmat Fusion Center will be able to look for trends and produce valuable alerts to hazmat responders.
To access the member area of the website, fill out the registration form.