A fire fighter's ability to recognize an incident involving hazardous materials is critical. They must possess the knowledge required to identify the presence of hazardous materials and weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and have an understanding of what their role is within the response plan. Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations will provide fire fighters and first responders with these skills and enable them to keep themselves and others safe while mitigating these potentially deadly incidents. Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations is the center of an integrated teaching and learning system that combines groundbreaking content with dynamic new features to support instructors and to help prepare students for the job. The text meets and exceeds the requirements for Fire Fighter I and II certification and satisfies the core competencies for operations level responders including the eight mission-specific responsibilities for first responders within the 2008 Edition of NFPA 472, Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents. Additionally, the material presented also exceeds the hazardous materials response requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations provides in-depth coverage of: the properties and effects of hazardous materials and WMDs; how to calculate potential danger and initiate a response plan; selection, use, advantages, and disadvantages of personal protective equipment; performing mass and technical decontamination; performing evidence preservation and sampling; performing product control. Performing air monitoring and sampling; performing victim rescue and recovery; and responding to illicit laboratory incidents. Listen to a Podcast with Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations author Rob Schnepp to learn more about this training program! Rob discusses the NFPA 472 standard, changes in responder training operations, and the importance of writing a street smart textbook. To listen now, visit: http://d2jw81rkebrcvk.cloudfront.net/assets.multimedia/audio/HazMat.mp3.