Emergency Decontamination Steps

There is always the possibility of a site requiring emergency decontamination. Therefore, a site must always establish emergency decontamination procedures.

The primary concern in an emergency is preventing the loss of life or severe injury to site personnel. Measures to save a life, such as medical treatment, should take precedence over decontamination procedures until the victim is stabilized. It is therefore important that personnel understand when they can and cannot perform decontamination in an emergency situation.

Decontamination can be performed in an emergency under the following circumstances:

• If the site can perform decontamination without interfering with essential life-saving techniques or first aid
• If a worker has been contaminated with an extremely toxic or corrosive material that could cause severe injury or loss of life

If it is possible to perform decontamination during an emergency, personnel should follow these steps:

• Wash, rinse and/or cut off protective clothing and equipment.
• Wrap the victim in blankets, plastic, or rubber to reduce contamination of other personnel.
• Alert emergency and offsite medical personnel to potential contamination.
• Instruct emergency and offsite medical personnel about specific decontamination procedures if necessary.
• Send site personnel familiar with the incident to assist the medical professionals.

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