The SHARP Hazardous Materials Response Team is a Pennsylvania state-certified hazardous material response team. SHARP has attained NFPA 472-1997 certification at the team-certified hazmat technician level and is a Bronze Level member as a participating department in the Pennsylvania Fire Service Certification Program administered through the State Fire Commissioner’s Office.
SHARP Team operational capabilities and responsibilities include product identification and research, leak control, spill control, extinguishment, product/site monitoring and sampling, hazard removal (not permanent disposal), neutralization, and decontamination. The SHARP Team IS NOT a clean-up or disposal company and, therefore, generally relies on separate professional companies for clean-up and permanent disposal operations.
The Cambria County Special Hazards Assistance Response Program (SHARP) came into existence in April 1988. Established by County Code, the team response concept was the result of several years of planning and research on the part of the Cambria County Office of Emergency Management and the Cambria County Volunteer Firemen’s Association. SHARP has proven to be an effective response solution to the county’s ever-present exposure and vulnerability to the occurrence of a hazardous material incident and events involving acts of terrorism.
SHARP utilizes the task force concept of mutual aid response from the sixty-one fire and emergency medical service departments throughout Cambria County. The program is coordinated through the Cambria County Department of Emergency Services under the direction of the Cambria County Emergency Management Agency. The Cambria County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) provides additional guidance to the County’s hazardous materials response program.
The program appoints one chief officer to oversee response operations and training objectives. Assistant chief officers are also appointed to assist in team operations, coordination and on-scene command. SHARP maintains a minimum roster of thirty-five volunteer members. The minimum proficiency standard for team members is “Hazmat Operations” with the majority of team members achieving and maintaining the “Hazmat Technician/Specialist” level of proficiency. All team officers have attained the level of “Incident Commander”.
A partnership between the Cambria County Department of Emergency Services and the City of Johnstown provides for the Johnstown Fire Department to complement SHARP with emergency response resources for both hazardous material incidents and incidents of terrorism. This partnership has enhanced the availability of both trained personnel and equipment. In addition, several county fire departments have the capability to augment SHARP when needed with a variety of specialized apparatus.
SHARP is funded via several means including: the Hazardous Material Emergency Response Account (HMERA) which receives monies from both SARA planning and reporting facilities; the reimbursements of costs incurred from actual responses and services rendered for apparatus, equipment, and manpower utilized; both state and federal grants; and contributions from Cambria County. Cambria County government provides financial support of wages/benefits for administrative personnel, underwrites the cost for insurance coverage, and assists with reduced costs for vehicle maintenance through the Cambria County Transit Authority.
SHARP is dispatched via the Cambria County 9-1-1 Communications Center utilizing alphanumeric paging to individual team members and general announcements over the UHF county fire dispatch frequency.
The on-scene incident commander generally makes requests for a SHARP response to the 9-1-1 communications center. Responses can also be an automatic dispatch should the incident involve a SARA planning facility and the involved product(s) escape the facility boundaries. The team can be dispatched for two methods of response. A SHARP Stage 1 is for a team officer(s) only to respond to the incident scene to provide technical assistance to the local emergency departments or to provide a minimal amount of equipment/supplies for use in an operations level response mode. A Stage 2 response is for all-available team members and all core units to respond to the scene to provide operational assistance in the emergency. Stage 2 responses may be downgraded at the discretion of the SHARP OIC based on the severity of the incident. In addition to covering Cambria County, SHARP also provides primary hazardous materials response for Bedford County through a mutual aid agreement based on a non-funded retainer.