Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
To become contaminated, radioactive material must get on a person’s skin or clothing,
or inside the body. For example, people could become contaminated if they were near
an explosion such as a ‘dirty bomb’.
Radioactive material sitting on the clothes or skin is called external contamination.
Simply removing the clothing and washing the hair and skin will remove the majority of
the contamination.
Radioactive material inside the body is called internal contamination, and is more difficult
to remove. If the radioisotope is taken up by tissue, it is said to be incorporated into the
body. Medical therapy may be required to help clear this material.
These patients are themselves giving off radiation and require more caution than those
who are simply irradiated.
Washing the skin with a mild soap is generally recommended to decontaminate patients
with external contamination.
December 2008 Version 2.0 Page 383