Decontamination

Decontamination, page 354DECONTAMINATION The ways to decontaminate people and equipment can vary. If you need help with decontamination, contact the emergency response telephone number provided on the shipping papers or the agencies listed on the inside back cover. These resources may be able to put you in contact with the chemical manufacturer to determine the appropriate procedure if not otherwise available. Decontamination is the process of removing or neutralizing hazardous materials/dangerous goods that have contaminated people and equipment during an incident. Contamination happens in the area generally referred to as the Hot Zone. Everything and everyone entering this zone should be decontaminated when leaving, including emergency response personnel. This reduces the chances that more contamination will occur. There are two main types of contamination: • Direct contamination happens in the Hot Zone. • Cross contamination happens when someone or something outside the Hot Zone was not properly decontaminated and comes in contact with another object or person, usually in the Warm or Cold Zone. To decontaminate, you must: • physically remove contaminants; and/or • chemically neutralize contaminants*. The NFPA 472, Chapter 3, describes the following four kinds of decontamination. (1) Gross decontamination: Quickly removing surface contamination, which usually happens by mechanically removing the contaminant or rinsing with water from handheld hose lines, emergency showers, or other nearby water sources. (2) Technical decontamination: Reducing contamination to a level as low as possible by chemical or physical methods. A hazmat team will perform this kind of decontamination. (3) Mass decontamination: Reducing or removing surface contaminants as fast as possible from a large number of people in potentially life-threatening situations. (4) Emergency decontamination: Immediately reducing contamination of people in potentially life-threatening situations with or without formally setting up a decontamination corridor. This process should be performed upwind and uphill from victims. Responders should avoid contact with victims, runoff or spray from the decontamination process. Emergency and mass decontamination can be done with firefighting and rescue operations equipment. Nozzles can be put on wide-angle fog patterns and sprayed towards the ground to create a decontamination shower. Responders can also place nozzles on the discharge ports of engines. Contaminated clothing and equipment must be removed after use and stored in a controlled area (Warm Zone) until cleanup procedures can begin. Sometimes protective clothing and equipment cannot be decontaminated and must be disposed of properly. *Chemical neutralization releases heat. DO NOT PERFORM on a victim. Page 352#