Meth Labs

[Jason Pierce]

I have been studying information about Meth Labs and thinking of my department's SOP's. I am curious about other SOP's. What does your department have in place for these incidents?

[SilverCity4]

We don't, and we really need them.

While there has been a considerable increase in the amount of meth labs springing up in our rural areas, training for responding to them is lacking. A few of county sheriff's offices have put together a program for responders, but they still lean towards law enforcement concerns rather than fire.

I too would be interested to see some SOPs on this.

[Ohiovolffemtp]

The Drug Enforcement Administration has done a number of training sessions in our area. Their agents have received hazardous materials training and appear to be up on the haz mat side of taking down a meth lab. We don't have a formal SOP, but our practice is to have fire & EMS standby while the feds, backed up by local law enforcement, goes in. One nice thing about the DEA is that they handle cleanup of the site if they run the raid. I'd recommend contacting your local DEA office for training assistance.

[smkdvr42]

we had a class about meths labs the other day. we looked at a few SOP's on it but have nothing in writing as far as our department. they are slowing but surely becoming a problem here in my city. the few that we have dealt with were on fire...we made sure the immediate fire danger was resolved..and then let the MBN (Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics) come in and clean it up and we stood by as a RIT team.

[fire69dawg]

We don't have any SOP's on it yet, but I see it being somewhat of a basic on for operations. The investigation part would probably handled by local, state, and federal departments. I recently attended a seminar and there was a gentleman from West Virginia State Patrol that spoke on Meth Labs. It was an excellent session. I will try and track down his name and number for you. He travels the country as a Meth expert. Good Luck.

[a191042]

Does anyone know of a training program for the Fire/EMS service on meth labs? (FEMA/DEA) I am a full time Deputy Sheriff and Volunteer Firefighter, I have been wanting to have a training session for our county's volunteer firefighters on meth labs. I have material avaliable, but it is geared towards the law enforcement community. Here in Alabama, a meth lab is as common as a pine tree and becoming worse. As a firefighter you are put at risk to be exposed to the dangers of a lab while responding to different calls. While as a LEO I may be entering a house knowing that there is a possibility of a lab, but as a firefighter I may not know what to look for and may not think about it on a "routine" fire / ems call. Anyway, I feel this is a great danger for the firefighters and a indepth program needs to be developed for them.

Also, I am interested to hear how many of you have come across a lab (or found later that one existed) while on a fire / ems call?

Thanks!

[joejoe33]

We just had a class on clandestine drug labs sponsered by the Dallas DEA. The class was taught by a DEA forensic chemist.

The class gave me new insight on things to look for on these type of calls.

The DEA recommends that these labs be disassembled by the DEA forensic chemists. These clandestine labs are extremely dangerous and pose dangers to emergency personnel handling these type of emergency calls.

The DEA tells us that they enter clandestine labs with two different levels of protection. Both levels include respiratory protection. They also advise local law enforcement to call the DEA forensic chemistry lab for assistance.

The use of ether and other toxic, and flammable chemicals make entry to clandestine labs extremely hazardous to fire personnel.

I would advise you to contact your local DEA branch office to set up a class for your organization and your local law enforcement to attend. This is a free class offered by the DEA.

I hope my comments help.

[a191042]

Thanks, I am going to see if our DEA field office can help me come up with something. Our labs are processed by the Alabama Dept of Forensic Science, they have a 24 hour response team because the nearest DEA team is in Atlanta. Appearently our DEA office doesn't seem to deal with the labs in this area.