San Diego County Department of Environmental Health Hazardous Incident Response Team holds a HAZMAT technician recertification course that many HAZMAT technicians from various teams throughout the San Diego County region flock to.

The San Diego County HAZMAT team is one of the finest in not just the State of California but in the United States itself.

These guys are really a brainy brunch and know their science really well.

Most of the members on the San Diego County HAZMAT team are certified at the specialist level.

The team is responsible for responding to HAZMAT incidents throughout the county including the city of San Diego itself which resides within the boundaries of the county (San Diego city actually has it's own HAZMAT team that is staffed by the city fire department).

The team is prepared to respond to everything from gasoline spills from overturned tanker trucks on a highway during rush hour to more "exotic" incidents involving CBRNe.

The San Diego County HAZMAT team is recognized as a regional trainer of HAZMAT teams of not just municipal-level HAZMAT teams operating in and around the county but also such federal agencies as the FBI's area Hazardous Materials Incident Team based at their San Diego field office and the U.S. Coast Guard as well. The team has also trains other HAZMAT teams from Mexico and South America.

In this video the San Diego County Hazmat team trains first responders in unknown substance identification.

The official website for the San Diego County HAZMAT team is here: http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/deh/hazmat/hmd_hirt.html