Our online Learning Management System keeps fire ops, spec ops, and hazmat teams on cycle — three levels, mission-based packages, personalized pathways for every operator and technician on the roster.
An online LMS built for hazmat teams and fire operations. Personalized learning pathways from field operator to hazmat tech. Every team member gets the precise training they need to stay safe and stay compliant.
A structured pathway built around the operator on the line, delivered through the FarrWest Hazmat Academy LMS. Each level is designed to build on the one before it — every course mapped to the role your team plays at the call.
LEVEL01
Foundational
Basic Operations.
Entry-level courses for first responders needing essential hazmat knowledge. The foundational layer every operator works from.
Each workshop is built around what your team actually responds to, with the equipment they actually carry, against the protocols they actually follow. Pre-training interview comes first. Off-the-shelf curriculum doesn't.
01 / APPROACH
Your Mission.
We embed your SOPs into our scenarios — reinforcing existing protocols, and helping you modify them when new technologies enter the kit.
02 / APPROACH
Your Tools.
Pre-training interview customizes the curriculum to your specific instrument set. Scenarios pull data from every technology in your kit — operators learn to correlate results across detectors.
03 / APPROACH
Your Class.
Scenario-based workshops that challenge students with realistic events — common and uncommon. Held in your bay, our bay, or a partner facility. We bring the equipment, agents, and instructors.
In-PersonADVANCED WORKSHOPS
Mission-specific specialized courses.
CBRNE workshops focused on specific threats — chemical, radiological, narcotics, explosive. Sampling, chemistry, decon, and gas response classes built around the equipment your team carries.
Detection, identification, and response to radiological threats. Includes dosimetry, isotope ID, and contaminated-area control.
Ludlum · Mirion · Thermo
02 / WORKSHOP
Chemical Warfare Agents.
CW agent recognition, sampling protocols, PPE selection, and decon procedures aligned to your threat assessment.
FLIR · 908 Devices · RedWave
03 / WORKSHOP
Narcotics Identification.
Field ID of fentanyl, precursors, and street drug combinations. Safe sampling and law-enforcement chain of custody.
Rigaku · Thermo · 908
04 / WORKSHOP
Explosives Detection.
TICs, HMEs, and military-grade explosives. Trace and bulk detection workflows for first-responder and ATF-adjacent missions.
Smiths · Rigaku
05 / WORKSHOP
Sampling & Chemistry.
Hands-on sampling technique, sample integrity, and proper handling. Chemistry fundamentals tied to your detection stack.
Lab + Field bench
06 / WORKSHOP
Decontamination Operations.
Wet and dry decon, line setup, mass decon, and small-unit decon. Aligned to NFPA, OSHA, and your AHJ.
MPDK · ODK · HCI
07 / WORKSHOP
Gas Response Mission.
Specialized gas response — basic sensors through FLIR 510 GC/MS. Identification, source location, and atmospheric monitoring.
FLIR 510 · 4/5 GAS · PID
08 / WORKSHOP
Operator Refresher.
Technology overview, equipment familiarization, sampling, data review, maintenance, and proper storage — keeps your roster sharp.
All instrument lines
In-PersonFULL COURSE CATALOG
Nine courses. Real scenarios. Your kit.
Every class is scenario-based and customized to your department's equipment cache. Class size, length, and prerequisites below. Tap a course for the overview and learning objectives.
Participants perform accurate, reliable gross-detection tests with the Detection Papers Kit — pH, fluoride, potassium iodide (KI), and water papers, military M8 paper, and chemical classifier strips — backed by four/five-gas meter screening and green-top sample vials. Built for the street-smart first responder classifying unknown liquids for proper treatment, aligned to NFPA 470/472 hazardous materials response competencies.
Audience
All Responders
Prerequisite
Hazmat Ops
Class Size
10–40
Length
4 Hours
Learning objectives
1Chemically classify an unknown liquid using colorimetric papers & field screening tools
2Proper use of pH, fluoride, KI, water & M8 papers and classifier strips
6Use green-top sample vials & kit accessories for field characterization
7Run a systematic gross-detection assessment with responder safety & discipline
8Communicate findings through verbal & written hazard characterization reports
Course overview
A scenario-based session that guides students through testing samples using multiple technologies and methods — exposing equipment limitations and teaching how to layer technologies to resolve discrepancies. A decision-tree approach to detect and identify even the most potent unknowns, built around your agency's cache.
Audience
All Responders
Prerequisite
Hazmat Ops
Class Size
10–40
Length
8 Hours
Technologies covered
1Wet chemistry & colorimetric tests
2Gas detection sensors
3Infrared identification (FT-IR)
4Raman identification
5Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS)
6Gas chromatography / mass spec (GC/MS)
Course overview
A basic overview of equipment use, maintenance, and hands-on sample work for the specific instruments in your department's cache. Length scales to the equipment list and your team's needs. OEM-aligned across the manufacturer lines below — over 50 individual equipment training classes in all. Other instrumentation covered on request.
Audience
All Responders
Prerequisite
None
Class Size
10–40
Length
Varies
Manufacturer platforms
·Honeywell / RAE Systems — AreaRAE II & AreaRAE, MultiRAE family, QRAE, ToxiRAE, ppbRAE / MiniRAE 2000, UltraRAE 3000, Safety Suites (deployment)
·Additional equipment — other instrumentation and manufacturer lines covered on request
Course overview
Guides students through the detection, characterization, and identification of radiological materials regardless of incident complexity. Scenario-based exercises run on state-of-the-art Argon Electronics CBRNE simulation instruments and sources, reinforcing cognitive and psychomotor skills in a realistic simulated environment.
Audience
All Responders
Prerequisite
Hazmat Ops
Class Size
10–40
Length
7 Hours
Learning objectives
1Types of ionizing radiation & harms
2Radiological units of measure
3ALARA — time, distance & shielding
4Personal radiation detectors
5Survey instrumentation
6Radioisotope identification
7Radiological incident (hazmat response)
8Venue monitoring (NSSE)
9Real-world simulated environments
Course overview
Instructs students on the buttonology of the self-contained FLIR Griffin G510 portable GC-MS, leading to identification of complex unknowns across all phases of matter — liquid, solid, vapor. Operable in full PPE with an IP65-rated enclosure; identify unknowns against NIST or SWGDRUG libraries with guided controls and simple threat alarms.
Audience
All Responders
Prerequisite
None
Class Size
10–15
Length
16 Hours · 2 Day
Learning objectives
1Theory of portable GC/MS
2Level 1 Touch software
3Air sample / air confirm acquisition
4Liquid / solid sample preparation
5Liquid injector technique
6Solid sample technique
7SPME fiber technique
8Level 2 software for data interpretation
Course overview
A 2-day course: Day one covers physical and chemical states of matter, the periodic table, routes of entry, toxicological exposure, and the response Salt Tables. Day two focuses on hydrocarbon families, radicals, and derivatives. Scenario-based discussions build experience with chemical releases; every lesson stresses product harms and includes take-home guides for the field.
Audience
All Responders
Prerequisite
None
Class Size
30
Length
16 Hours
Learning objectives
1Nomenclature
2Physical & chemical properties of materials
3Periodic table
4Exposure guidelines
5Salts & inorganic non-salts
6Hydrocarbons
7Hydrocarbon radicals
8Hydrocarbon derivatives
Course overview
Day one covers the rules and regulations on chemical protective clothing and the CPC and breathing apparatus in your cache — responders don and doff CPC and SCBA and perform job tasks to show proficiency. Day two focuses on decontamination methods for responders and civilians, culminating in wet and dry decon reduction corridors and advanced technical decon techniques.
Audience
All Responders
Prerequisite
None
Class Size
10–15
Length
16 Hours
Learning objectives
1NFPA, OSHA & other CPC rules
2Levels of protective ensembles
3APRs, PAPRs, SAR & SCBA
4Don & doff CPC
5Decontamination methods
6Wet & dry decon reduction corridors
7Advanced technical decon techniques
Course overview
When FTIR and Raman fall below ~5% concentration they can't identify samples — it takes trace detection to bridge the gap. The MX908 uses High-Pressure Mass Spectrometry (HPMS) for sensitivity comparable to IMS with far greater selectivity in the low-to-mid ppb range. Training covers the technology and sample modes for solid, liquid, vapor, and aerosol, plus Target Hunter and Mission Modes that reduce interferents.
Audience
All Responders
Prerequisite
None
Class Size
10–15
Length
7 Hours
Learning objectives
1Introduction to MX908
2System setup & operational checks
3Vapor mode sampling
4Trace mode sampling
5Capabilities & limitations
6Basic maintenance & troubleshooting
7Hands-on integrated scenarios
Course overview
Covers the majority of common sensor issues in modern detectors using case studies drawn from actual incidents where technology and other factors shaped the response. Students learn the meter problems that interfere with proper detection — and how to compensate for known gas-detector fallacies.
We map your equipment set, SOPs, and threat profile. No canned curricula — we build the class around what your team actually runs.
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02
Scenario Build.
Instructors craft scenarios from your data — your detectors, your protocols, your call types. Common and uncommon threats.
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03
Delivery in Your Bay.
On-site at your facility, our San Antonio bay, or a partner site. We bring the agents, simulants, and OEM-certified instructors.
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04
Roster & Certificate.
Attendance documented, with a certificate of completion available on request.
SCHEDULE TRAINING
Tell us the threat. We'll build the class.
Customized scenarios, OEM-certified instructors, full LMS handoff. We start with a 30-minute pre-training interview — no slides, no sales deck, just a worksheet on what your team needs to be ready for.
