September marked the 40th year of operations for CHEMTREC (www.chemtrec.com), the world's foremost emergency call center that provides immediate critical response information during emergency incidents involving chemicals, hazardous materials and dangerous goods. CHEMTREC is the emergency contact of choice for many tank truck carriers that handle hazardous materials.
A service of the American Chemistry Council, CHEMTREC is a round-the-clock public service hotline available to fire fighters, law enforcement officials and other personnel who are the first responders in emergency situations. With links to the largest on-call network of chemical and hazardous material experts in the world, including chemical and response specialists, public emergency services, and private contractors, and more than 4 million accessible Materials Safety Data Sheets, CHEMTREC provides crucial assistance during incidents ranging from minor to critical.
“When faced with an incident involving hazardous materials or dangerous goods, emergency responders need access to reliable information and assistance immediately,” says Randy Speight, managing director of CHEMTREC. “Every day of the year for the past 40 years, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, CHEMTREC has been providing immediate assistance to emergency responders to ensure they can properly address any hazardous situation that they are facing.”
Over the past 40 years, CHEMTREC has grown and enhanced the services it provides beyond emergency incident response. Today, CHEMTREC also has the capability to assist companies in their disaster recovery efforts and serve as a company's crisis communications service, providing crucial information to company personnel and mass emergency broadcast services during a crisis. CHEMTREC Operations Center staff also can provide technical services to participating companies regarding company product use information.
CHEMTREC's reach also has expanded internationally in the past decade. In response to demand from the numerous chemical manufacturers that operate around the globe, today, CHEMTREC takes calls from anywhere in the world and provides translation in 180 languages to assist callers during an emergency.
CHEMTREC also is a sponsor of TRANSCAER (TRANSportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response), a voluntary outreach effort in the United States that helps communities prepare for and respond to possible hazardous material transportation incidents.