{"operation":"document","citation":"ERG 2024, Decontamination","title":"Decontamination","source_type":"guidance","agency":"U.S. DOT / Transport Canada / SICT","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2024-04-04","effective_on":null,"summary":"Official ERG2024 decontamination guidance, pages 354-354.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-erg-2024-decontamination.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-erg-2024-decontamination.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-erg-2024-decontamination","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2024-04/ERG2024-Eng-Web-a.pdf#page=354","body":"DECONTAMINATION\nThe ways to decontaminate people and equipment can vary. If you need help with\ndecontamination, contact the emergency response telephone number provided on\nthe shipping papers or the agencies listed on the inside back cover. These resources\nmay be able to put you in contact with the chemical manufacturer to determine the\nappropriate procedure if not otherwise available.\nDecontamination is the process of removing or neutralizing hazardous materials/dangerous\ngoods that have contaminated people and equipment during an incident.\nContamination happens in the area generally referred to as the Hot Zone. Everything and\neveryone entering this zone should be decontaminated when leaving, including emergency\nresponse personnel. This reduces the chances that more contamination will occur.\nThere are two main types of contamination:\n•\nDirect contamination happens in the Hot Zone.\n•\nCross contamination happens when someone or something outside the Hot Zone\nwas not properly decontaminated and comes in contact with another object or person,\nusually in the Warm or Cold Zone.\nTo decontaminate, you must:\n•\nphysically remove contaminants; and/or\n•\nchemically neutralize contaminants*.\nThe NFPA 472, Chapter 3, describes the following four kinds of decontamination.\n(1) Gross decontamination: Quickly removing surface contamination, which usually\nhappens by mechanically removing the contaminant or rinsing with water from\nhandheld hose lines, emergency showers, or other nearby water sources.\n(2) Technical decontamination: Reducing contamination to a level as low as\npossible by chemical or physical methods. A hazmat team will perform this kind of\ndecontamination.\n(3) Mass decontamination: Reducing or removing surface contaminants as fast as\npossible from a large number of people in potentially life-threatening situations.\n(4) Emergency decontamination: Immediately reducing contamination of people\nin potentially life-threatening situations with or without formally setting up a\ndecontamination corridor. This process should be performed upwind and uphill\nfrom victims. Responders should avoid contact with victims, runoff or spray from the\ndecontamination process.\nEmergency and mass decontamination can be done with firefighting and rescue operations\nequipment. Nozzles can be put on wide-angle fog patterns and sprayed towards the ground\nto create a decontamination shower. Responders can also place nozzles on the discharge\nports of engines.\nContaminated clothing and equipment must be removed after use and stored in a controlled\narea (Warm Zone) until cleanup procedures can begin. Sometimes protective clothing and\nequipment cannot be decontaminated and must be disposed of properly.\n*Chemical neutralization releases heat. DO NOT PERFORM on a victim.\nPage 352","truncated":false,"body_characters":2787}