TECHNICAL SUPPORT UNIT
Formed in 1978 the Technical Support Team comprised of senior uniformed officers and eight members from Strathclyde Regional Council Chemist's Department and was formed to
provide operational firefighters with technical back up as a result of incidents involving
chemicals and other hazardous substances. They either proceeded to the incident in the
Technical Support Unit, driven by senior officers, or gave advice from the Operations Room
at Brigade Headquarters which was equipped with CHEMDATA and a vast library of chemical
reference works.
In 1991 the team comprised of 14 flexible duty officers, 3 day duty officers and 8
chemists.
In February 1993 the TSU moved from Brigade Headquarters at Hamilton to Govan Fire Station
where it is crewed by 2 wholetime firefighters who drive it to the incident, the chemist
and senior officers proceeding to the incident by car.
In 1996 on the reorganisation of Local Government the chemists were transferred to Glasgow
Scientific Services under the direction of the City Analyst.
When the Chemical Incident procedure was initiated the Operations Room at Brigade
Headquarters would be staffed and if deemed necessary the TSU would go to the incident.
Since moving to Govan the TSU has been put onto certain PDA's and is mobilised to
incidents involving hazardous materials and on initiation of the Chemical Incident
procedure by the OIC at an incident.
These are the vehicles which have been used over the years by the TSU :-
1979 KYS916V
Fiat Turbozeta/Fulton and Wylie
1989 F898KYS
Mercedes 814D/Scotts/SFB Workshops
Photo
1998 R248JGB
Scania P94D-220/Fleming and Taylor
Photo
TECHNICAL SUPPORT UNIT
Chemical emergency response is an
integral part of Strathclyde Fire Brigade’s response to all emergencies and has
been part of our operational procedures since 1978. On average we attend 280
chemical incidents each year.
The unit is based at Station B02 Govan in Central Command and is crewed by
wholetime firefighters backed up by our Technical Support Team who are available
24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The team consists of Fire Officers and Regional
Chemists based in Glasgow.
On receipt of a call the team will either proceed to the Operations Room at
Hamilton or go directly to the incident. At the Operations Room the team will
produce a ‘package of information’ and relay this to the Officer-in-Charge, and
then proceed to the incident to provide on-site chemical analysis and assistance
to the Officer-in-Charge.
Since 1978 Strathclyde Fire Brigade has acquired national and international
experience in dealing with a wide variety of different and complex hazardous
substance incidents.
The TSU equipment can be broken down into five main areas —
1. Analytical and
detection
2. Containment and disposal
3. De-contamination
4. Supply of information
5. Communication
Analysis and Detection Equipment
Chemical analysis test
kit, minigas meters, methane monitor, asbestos sampling kit and radiation
monitoring equipment.
Containment and Disposal
A wide selection of
blank caps, bungs, clamps and equipment for sealing leaking drums or pipes.
De-contamination
Includes protective
clothing, chemical and gas tight suits, BA sets and equipment for
de-contamination.
Supply of Information
Technical information
available to fire crews include “Chemdata” information base, Brigade Op/Tech
Notes, along with a comprehensive chemical textbook data.
Communication
Includes a fax and radio
communication equipment, as well as intrinsically safe hand held radio
equipment.
(Strathclyde Fire Brigade Technical Support Unit leaflet.)
TECHNICAL SUPPORT UNIT
Pictured right is Strathclyde’s
technical support unit, which is mobilized from Govan Fire Station when an
incident involving hazardous materials occurs.
It is staffed by a Technical Support Team, which was formed in 1978 and consists
of a number of senior officers from brigade HQ and eight chemists from
Strathclyde Regional Council’s Chemistry Department
All team members receive specialist training in dealing with hazardous materials
accidents.
Last year the team and the well-equipped F registration Mercedes van were called
out on 51 occasions and dealt with incidents ranging from a spillage of dye on
the roadway to an overturned lorry containing 21 drums of phosphoric acid.
Calls for information were also received from other brigades and from Norway,
Spain and Germany.
The van is manned by wholetime firefighters who have received training on the
use of the specialised equipment carried. The chemists and senior officers
proceed to incidents by car.
An innovative information relay system operates between the personnel on the van
and staff at the Technical Support Team’s well-stocked technical library at HQ.
(Fire magazine, Scottish Feature, August 1993. Page
15.)
If you know of any mistakes in this or have any additional information please let me know.