HazSim’s revised firefighter training platform, that improves usability for frontline firefighters and training officers, will be on display at Dragertown at the 2023 Fire Department Instructors Conference
For more than 10 years, HazSim has been the standard for training hazardous materials experts on how to properly use gas-detection meters in hot-zone evolutions. This month, HazSim will premiere its new version designed to train more firefighters on a wider variety of calls.
HazSim will launch its new version during FDIC as part of its partnership with Dräger.
“We’ve kept all the features that hazmat trainers have come to rely on over the past decade,” says HazSim founder Phil Ambrose. “This new version builds on that, while being far more accessible to smaller fire departments and to training firefighters whose primary role may not be hazmat. This is where we believe we can really make a profound difference in firefighter training and ultimately firefighter and civilian safety.”
HazSim lowered the price to make it easier for more fire departments to get HazSim without major budget planning or grant applications. And moving from a mostly hardware-based system to a mostly cloud-based system allows for departments to train more members over more locations and track that training, Ambrose says.
“Whether it is a major train derailment, leaking substances in a warehouse or the bread-and-butter CO alarms, it is the awareness-level and ops-level firefighters who are first on scene metering the situation long before the hazmat technicians arrive,” Ambrose says. “Our new version makes it more likely they will be confident and competent with gas meters; that will save lives. Our goal has always been to get more firefighters training more often.”
HazSim has been working with Dräger to replicate the exact look of Dräger monitors on HazSim training devices. Showcasing that new look on a new platform at Dragertown during FDIC made perfect sense.
“Dragertown will be teeming with energy and we are excited to be part of it,” Ambrose says. “And we are excited that our new version can replicate the Dräger meters, because when firefighters train with real-time readings on a device that looks like what they use everyday, they will retain what they learn.”
The re-engineered HazSim will have any updates automatically pushed out to the users’ devices, it will come with suggested training evolutions and a simplified platform that allows users to switch it on and begin training.
About HazSim
HazSim is a firefighter-developed training platform that teaches hazmat responders how to use gas detectors during hands-on training evolutions using real-time readings, without the use of actual hazardous materials. The software and handheld device can be configured to replicate most major gas detectors on the market.
About Hazmat Nation – Hazmat Nation is an online publication dedicated to providing critical information to help hazmat responders be safer and more effective during training and operations.
