The Security and Emergency Response Training Center — SERTC, is run by MxV Rail, and is a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads — started with a narrow focus: rail. Since 1985, SERTC has trained more than 76,000 first responders, emergency managers, and community leaders.

Tank cars are still the core, but the curriculum now covers hazmat incidents across every mode of surface transportation. Courses span Awareness, Operations, Technician, and Specialist levels, plus Incident Commander training and refreshers, all built against OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120(q) and NFPA 472 — the actual regulatory floor for hazmat response.

In 2009, Congress named MxV Rail/SERTC a member of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium — a small list of specialized training centers working with FEMA’s National Training and Education Division. That puts SERTC in the business of helping set training standards for local, state, tribal, and territorial responders, not just running its own courses in isolation. A class at their Pueblo facility follows the same benchmark as one delivered somewhere else in the consortium.

Residential courses at the Pueblo facility run 24 to 80 hours, and incorporate hands-on evolutions. SERTC also sends its instructors out to English- and Spanish-speaking regions around the world for on-site training.

The biggest challenge SERTC officials say they face is keeping current with and connected to the fast-changing risks facing hazmat responders today.