Protecting Emergency Responders, Volume 3

This report addresses the protection of emergency responders against injury, illness, and death on just such rare occasions, when emergencies become disasters. It focuses on preparedness (especially planning and training) and management as means of controlling and reducing the hazards emergency responders face. It provides a set of recommendations on how disaster site safety and health management might be improved. This report builds on systems and practices currently in use and was developed primarily for use by local emergency responders, those individuals and organizations who have been tasked with disaster site safety and health responsibilities. The research described in this report was a joint effort of the Science and Technology Policy Institute (operated by RAND from 1992-November 2003 under Contract ENG-9812731) and NIOSH.