PHMSA 01-13
Friday, January 18, 2013
Contact: Jeannie Layson
Tel: 202-366-4831

DOT Launches Free App Featuring Emergency Response Guidebook
Delivers Hazmat Safety Info into the Hands of Emergency Responders

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) today announced a free, mobile web app of its Emergency Response Guidebook 2012 (ERG). The new safety tool will provide the nation's emergency responders with fast, easily accessible information to help them manage hazardous material incidents.
The mobile ERG will make it easier for firefighters, police and other emergency first responders to quickly locate the information they need, thanks to an electronic word search function, and will ensure easy reading even during nighttime emergencies. The 2012 version of the ERG includes new evacuation tables for large toxic gas spills and standard response procedures for gas and liquid pipeline incidents.

"The first 30 minutes are the most crucial when it comes to responding to a hazmat situation," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "The new app is both mobile and flexible, and gives first responders the knowledge they need to protect themselves and their communities in an emergency."

PHMSA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services" National Library of Medicine (NLM) joined forces in producing the two free ERG mobile applications.
Links to download this software are available from the Apple iTunes website at ERG 2012 for iPhone and from the Google Play website at ERG 2012 for Android. In addition, a version of the ERG is available in NLM's Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER) application. An instructional video for learning how to use the ERG2012 is also available on PHMSA's website.

"This invaluable tool improves the speed and accessibility to hazardous materials response information to those on the front line of accidents and incidents," said PHMSA Administrator Cynthia Quarterman.

Chief Ernest Mitchell, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's U.S. Fire Administrator for the U.S. Fire Administration. noted that the release of the 2012 ERG mobile app "will provide essential tools to help first responders safely deal with hazmat incidents. I always found the ERG to be extremely valuable and believe that a copy should be in every emergency response vehicle and in the hand of every first responder in America."

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration develops and enforces regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the nation's 2.5 million mile pipeline transportation system and the nearly 1 million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea, and air. Please visit http://phmsa.dot.gov for more information.