Decon closes out a hazmat call, but the details are what you carry forward. Here's what to document while you still remember it.
FireRescue1's Hazmat Week 2026 (Sept. 28 through Oct. 2) centered on the theme “Know Your Zone.” Hazmat training rightly focuses on the parts of a call that keep crews safe in the moment: sizing up the scene, setting control zones, and running decon. What gets far less attention is what happens after the decon line, when the details of the call start to fade.
Why hazmat details slip away
Hazmat calls are some of the hardest exposures to reconstruct later, for a few reasons.
The materials encountered aren't always known on arrival. Identification can come hours after the first crews are on scene, sometimes after they have already gone back in service, and that confirmation may not reach every member who worked the call.
Everyone on scene has a different exposure. The entry team, the crew staffing the decon corridor, and the members running patient decon all worked the same incident, but their proximity, time, and protection were not the same. We explored this idea in depth in our Insight: The Exposure Equation: Why the Same Hazard is not the Same Exposure.
Decon itself now varies. In his Hazmat Week column, Let the hazard drive the decon plan, hazmat technician Chris Schroeder describes how departments are moving away from a single water-based setup toward decon matched to the contaminant, including limited-water and dry methods. How you were decontaminated is part of the story of that call.
Doffing matters too. Schroeder notes that removing personal protective equipment (PPE) is one of the points where secondary contamination is most likely, and he recommends training on a removal procedure for each ensemble.
Start with the zone
Good documentation begins with a clear picture of where you were working. FireRescue1's control zone field checklist covers how to establish red, yellow, and green zones and when changing conditions call for redrawing them. It's a useful tool for training and preplanning, and it reinforces the vocabulary you'll use when you record where you were on scene. (Registration with FireRescue1 is required to download the checklist.)
What to log after a hazmat call
Whatever tool you use, these are the details worth capturing before the end of your shift:
- The basics: date, location, and incident number
- The product: its name or United Nations/North America (UN/NA) identification number, if known; if not, note it as unknown and update your record once it's confirmed
- Your role and the zone you worked
- The PPE you wore
- Roughly how long you were in the zone
- The decon method used and anything unusual during doffing
- Anything out of the ordinary, such as a splash, a breach in your gear, an odor, or something you noticed afterward
Your personal record does not replace your department's exposure reporting process. If something happened on scene, report it through your department's procedures as well.
Where the Exposure Tracker fits
The IPSDI Exposure Tracker™ app gives firefighters a way to document exposures like these while the details are fresh, and to build a record over time rather than relying on memory. Your record belongs to you. IPSDI does not share individual exposure records with your department, and any sharing is always your choice.
Think back to the last hazmat call you ran. If you can still recall the details, log it now. Then make it part of your routine: document the next call before the end of your shift.
More Hazmat Week resources
Hazmat Week is a reminder that readiness starts with training. These resources are a good place to start, whether you're drilling at the company level or rethinking how your department trains.
Let the hazard drive the decon plan
Where does the red zone really begin? (control zone checklist)
Company-level hazmat training: How to elevate your readiness
Webinar: What do firefighters really want, and need, from training? IPSDI CEO John Oates joins a FireRescue1 panel on the 2026 What Firefighters Want survey findings. Tuesday, Oct. 13, 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET. (Registration required.)
