EMERGENCY PROCEDURES MANUAL - Department of Health

CODE BROWN
SPECIFIC MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES: CHEMICAL
BIOLOGICAL OR RADIATION ( CBR) INCIDENTS
This section is focussed on the physical facility and the equipment aspects of CBR
incidents.
Priority is given to protecting staff from contamination.
DECONTAMINATION:
Decontamination of victims is normally performed at the site of the incident. Ideally,
contaminated patients should not enter the ECC until decontamination has been
completed. This then ensures the ECC remains “clean” and not a threat to staff with
resultant 2 nd generation injuries.
Basic life support may be performed early by protected staff prior to decontamination,
but further definitive care should wait until after decontamination. Rarely will further
decontamination within the ECC be required.
Once a patient has been decontaminated, they can become part of the hospital’s routine
disaster plan patient flow.
DECONTAMINATION AREAS:
External
The designated contamination area is the Hazmat Shower outside the Bulk Gas Storage
Building. ( Regent St.)*
In the event of overwhelming casualty numbers, consider manually activating the fire
sprinklers in the Ambulance Bay.
• Key to access this area is kept on the “D-D” Key-chain in Emergency
• Victims should wash down with soap & water for 5 minutes prior to entering the
ECC.
• Portable screens erected to preserve patient privacy as best as possible.
• Staff may only assist if wearing Personal Protective Clothing (PPC).
• Patient valuables & clothes are double-bagged, sealed and labelled and stored in a
securable room by Security as “Valuables”.
• Patients are then triaged after the decontamination process.
*New purpose built decontamination shower planned for December 2000
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