Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

The Hogansburg-Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department and MCA Ambulance Unit along with the Franklin County Hazmat team responded to a cleaning chemical incident at the Communications Building in Kana:takon this past Sunday evening. Two CKON Radio staff and one Indian Time Newspaper staff member were inside the building during the incident. All were closely monitored to ensure that their vitals were ok and were released from observation that same evening.

The Franklin County Hazmat team remained onsite to monitor the air quality levels in the building to make sure that everything was safe for employees to reenter. Indian Time staff acknowledges the great fire department and ambulance crew we have in Akwesasne. Gratitude from the staff here in the building also extends to the Franklin County Hazmat team from Malone.

“If someone were to mix chemicals like bleach and ammonia people could die from the vapors,” said Regina Jacobs of Mohawk Council of Akwesasne’s Emergency Measures Program. “There is an Emergency Response Guide available that lists all generic chemicals and how they react. This guide is carried by police officers and firemen to help them assess the situation.”

The Emergency Response Guidebook was last updated in 2008 and was developed jointly by Transport Canada, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Secretariat of Transport and Communications of Mexico (SCT) and with the collaboration of CIQUIME (Centro de Informaciòn Quìmica para Emergencias) of Argentina, for use by fire fighters, police, and other emergency services personnel who may be the first to arrive at the scene of a transportation incident involving dangerous goods.

Currently both the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and Mohawk Council of Akwesasne have units developed to help in case of chemical spills, most notably used with home heating fuel spills. A chemical spill is just one type of emergency situation that can arise within the community, the last major incident having occurred at the Post Office in Akwesasne back in November 2010. Additional information will be released in future issues of Indian Time related to prevention of chemical spills, and ways to prepare for other emergency situations.