TRANSCAER recognized for 30 years of emergency response training

TRANSCAER, the voluntary national outreach initiative to help train emergency responders for possible hazardous material transportation incidents, is marking its 30th anniversary this year.

To honor the milestone, the National TRANSCAER Task Group has designated May as "TRANSCAER Month" with more than 50 events scheduled to raise awareness of emergency response training.

Founded in 1986 by Union Pacific Railroad and the Dow Chemical Co., TRANSCAER stands for Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response. Last year alone, the initiative helped train more than 50,000 emergency responders throughout North America.

TRANSCAER's success is based on partnerships that help strengthen hazmat emergency preparedness in communities, said National TRANSCAER Task Group Chairman Frank Reiner, president of the Chlorine Institute.

"These include crucial partnerships between shippers and transportation carriers whose expertise forms the basis for TRANSCAER's training and education, and the public-private partnerships between our industries, first responders and service organizations such as the National Volunteer Fire Council and the Firefighters Education and Training Foundation," said Reiner in a press release.

Congress last month passed a resolution recognizing TRANSCAER's contributions over the past 30 years.