Back

Specialized training for public safety organizations, Native American Tribes, and industrial companies

Workplace Safety Training

The courses we offer prepare your personnel to safely prevent, respond, and recover from hazardous materials incidents resulting from transportation and industrial incidents, natural and man-made disasters, and illicit drug labs. Education and training are the basis for successful mitigation. It is incumbent that your emergency responders are well-trained to protect themselves, their co-workers, and their communities from the hazards faced during emergency response. Some training to Native American tribal responders and personnel to public safety response agencies is fee-waived through federal grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). We also provide fee-based training to industrial companies.

Native American Tribes

We partner with the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society (NAFWS) to promote and provide training to tribal emergency response personnel, in topics such as hazardous materials emergency response, incident command systems, worker protection at hazardous waste cleanups, mass casualty incident triage, illicit drug incidents, and responder safety during natural and man-made disasters. The 574 federally recognized Native American tribes have 1.9 million tribal members living in the contiguous 48 states and Alaska.

 Commonly requested training courses: hazardous materials emergency response, hazardous waste site worker [HAZWOPER 29CFR1910.120(e)] initial and refresher courses, incident command system basics, mass casualty incident triage, illicit drug incidents, and responder safety during natural and man-made disasters.

Email Roy Stover for more information.

Industrial & Private Companies

We contract with private sector employers to provide occupational safety and health training to their employees. This training is often mandated by the worker protection requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, particularly in the areas of hazard communication, hazardous materials response, confined space entry and rescue, and the use of personal protective equipment. Many large facilities have in-house Emergency Response Teams and Industrial Fire Departments and our course offerings will provide the needed training, so those responders can work safely during emergency events.

Commonly requested course: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response [HAZWOPER – 29CFR1910.120(e) & (q)] Initial and Refresher Courses, Confined Space Rescue, Respiratory Protection, Incident Command System, Air Monitoring, and Industrial Firefighting courses

Email Ted Krayer for more information.

Firefighters prepare for training.

Public Safety Organizations

We have grant funding from federal agencies such as NIEHS and the Department of Transportation to provide specialized emergency response training to public sector agencies such as fire departments, law enforcement, emergency medical service, emergency management, and public health. This fee-waived training complements AFC’s primary mission of training responders in areas of hazardous materials response, mass casualty incidents, confined space rescue, incident command system, hazmat air monitoring, infectious disease, and incidents involving illicit drugs.

Commonly requested courses: Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations Level, Hazardous Materials Technician Level, Hazardous Materials Refresher, Hazardous Materials Incident Command, Confined Space Rescue, Mass Casualty Incident Triage, Infectious Disease Awareness and Operations, Active Shooter and Hostile Event Response, Hazmat Air Monitoring Basics, FEMA’s ICS 300 and ICS 400 courses.

Email Ted Krayer for more information.

Popular courses

Minimum number of students per class is 20.

Hazardous Materials/WMD Awareness (8 hours)

Max: 40 students

This course is designed for those who might be the first on scene of an emergency chemical release. This includes firefighters, law enforcement officers, security personnel, emergency coordinators, conservation officer, and environmental workers; any tribal member is welcome to attend.

Course topics include: HazMat recognition; OSHA, EPA, & DOT; Hazard Assessment; Emergency planning; Protective actions

Problem-solving activities: Recognizing labels & placards; Assessing chemical hazards; Determining emergency actions using the Emergency Response Guidebook

Hazardous Materials/WMD Awareness & Operations (40 hours)

Max students: 30

*prerequisites and conditions may apply for credentialed certification

This course is designed for emergency responders who will assist with defensive response actions such as diking, diverting, or absorbing spills. This course is also appropriate for those who need practical response training beyond the awareness level. In operations training, you get all the activities and exercises in the Awareness course PLUS: personal protective equipment; respirator donning exercises; spill confinement exercises; PPE workshops; decontamination procedures; Incident Command System

Hazardous Waste Site Worker HAZWOPER (40 hours)

Max students: 25

This is the initial health and safety training class for those who work at sites that may be contaminated by hazardous wastes. The course complies with OSHA’s Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standard [29CFR1910.120(e)

Course topics include: HAZWOPER and other regulations; chemical, physical, and health hazards; hazard control; personal protective equipment; emergency procedures

HAZWOPER Annual Refresher (8 hours)

Max students: 40
This class presents refresher topics and new updates as required in OSHA’s HAZWOPER standard. Topics are refreshed annually.

Illicit Drug Response Awareness (8 hours)

Max students: 40

This course targets public safety and public works personnel who are likely to discover an illegal methamphetamine lab or waste from labs in the course of their normal job.

The class is designed to promote recognition and avoidance of the extreme hazards of illegal labs. The course also discusses the hazards of emerging drug threats as information becomes available.

Incident Command System (ICS) Courses

These classes are designed for anyone who may be involved in managing an emergency incident, either by functioning in a command role or in a general function. *All courses are NIMS-compliant in accordance with FEMA’s 5-year training plan.

Basic ICS courses (24 hours)
Max students: 40
The four courses listed below are taught consecutively in a three or four day format.

  • IS 700: Introduction to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) (4 hours)
  • IS 800b: Introduction to the National Response Framework (4 hours)
  • ICS 100: Introduction to the ICS (8 hours)
  • ICS 200: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (8 hours)

Mass Casualty Incident Triage Awareness (8 hours)

This course is intended for emergency responders who may be called on to respond to a mass casualty incident (MCI). The course will prepare trainees to use the Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START) system, along with the DMS “ALL Risk” Triage Tag. Course topics include: the use of the START Triage System; EMS resource allocation; establishing Incident Command at MCIs; decontamination considerations; lessons learned from case studies

Radiological/Nuclear Awareness (8 hours)

Max students: 40

A Department of Homeland Security class (DHS AWR140). It is offered to first responders who may encounter radiological or nuclear hazards. This course will help responders recognize releases, avoid exposures, and take appropriate defensive actions.

Responder Safety Awareness During Disaster Response (8 hours)

Max students: 40

This is a DISCUSSION-BASED, EXERCISE-DRIVEN course. The course will address concerns for the safety and health of first responders involved in the response to natural disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods and will include the identification of specific hazards associated with these type events. NIMS 215a safety analysis form for identifying safety hazards on site will be introduced.

Major topics include coping with heat stress, potential injuries from working around debris and unstable surfaces, chemicals and contaminated flood and standing waters, electrical hazards, poten5al diseases, animal hazards, and traumatic stress injuries.

WMD and All-­Hazards Awareness (8 hours)

Max students: 40
This course is intended for first responders, law enforcement officers, EMS personnel, HazMat responders, emergency management personnel, and public works personnel that may be the first on scene of a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) incident or a natural/man-made disaster. This course will provide attendees with a basic understanding of terrorism and the potential threat of WMD incidents, as well as hazard recognition tools for responding to natural or man-made disasters.