The Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC) at MxV Rail In Pueblo, Colo., announced July 23 that it recently broke ground on a new training area, expanding the flammable liquids emergency response course to include alternative fuels and electric vehicle (EV) emergency response.
The Alternative Fuels and Flammable Incident Response and Management (AFFIRM) course, which will be available in Nov. 2024, was recently approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Training and Education Division (NTED) for development as a fully funded grant program. As with all the training offered in the NTED catalog, participant’s travel, transportation, lodging, meals, and course costs are included which means that responders or their organizations will not incur these expenses.
The AFFIRM program, the center says, will continue SERTC’s tradition of offering “the most realistic, hands-on transportation and hazmat training experience possible.” All current resident courses are a near 50/50 split of classroom and field exercises, and the AFFIRM course will follow suit. SERTC is partnering with industry leaders Hazard3, EPC, and members of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to develop relevant classroom materials. In addition to internal reviews by SERTC’s experienced instructional staff, numerous external subject matter experts (SMEs) will “review the materials for accuracy and alignment with FEMA’s national goals throughout the development process,” the center noted. The field scenarios will consist of live fires on four different training scenarios, including a 750-foot-long mixed commodity derailment, an industrial loading facility with rail and highway containers, a 1,600-barrel storage tank battery, and a live EV fire scenario.
Two “pilot” courses will be held this year beginning the weeks of Nov. 18 and Dec. 16. Pilot courses will be used as full-scale tests to gather input on the course from SMEs in all invited industries and response areas. After gathering input and making the appropriate changes, the course will go through the accessibility certification process and then be added to SERTC’s regular course schedule, beginning in April 2025.
More information is available here.
