Decontamination Process

As an organization we have a duty to protect you. However, according to the Incident Response Policy all personnel also have the responsibility for "Reducing the risks associated with incident response to the lowest achievable level." -IRP 6(a)2

The topic of post incident decontamination is about reducing risk because we know that we can't eliminate it. We are looking for easy to achieve ways to make sure that you can easily do those sorts of things that reduce your chances of getting sick.

This program is about providing you with options. What you can't do is nothing & What you can't do is everything (not all forms of decontamination make sense all the time.)

That said, it is ultimately up to the incident commander and individuals to make good choices.

The Operational Risk Assessment Process

All MCFRS operational policies are risk assessment documents. When an operational policy is being developed there are fundamental questions that must be asked before getting into the details:

What are the situational assumptions that we are making?
What is it that we intend to do?
What hazards will we face in attempting to meet that intent?
How do we protect personnel from those hazards and still meet the intent (mission)?

Risk?

Risk can be described as the uncertainty facing the operator. As the amount of uncertainty increases, the risk increases. As the amount of uncertainty decreases, the risk decreases. What is in fire smoke? No one really knows which means that there is high uncertainty, therefore high risk?

Reducing Risk

Where we know a hazard exists and where we can avoid that hazard we must avoid it as often as possible.

Example One. We know that vehicle exhaust (gas & diesel) is a respiratory hazard. The benzene and other chemicals in the exhaust are known carcinogens. We reduce our exposure by:

Using the plymovent exhaust capture system
Setting up incident rehab in an area free of vehicle exhaust

We understand that whenever you park a vehicle inside a building personnel will be exposed to exhaust, we cannot prevent that, BUT we can reduce the number of times (frequency) you get that exposure.

Example Two. Evidence suggests that turn out gear contains and leeches hazardous chemicals is growing. Right now we don't have a better alternative and our mission requires to wear that gear. However, if we only wear it for emergencies that require turn out gear we reduce the frequency of the exposure.

Reducing the frequency of exposure to chemicals that cause cancer reduces our risk of getting cancer.

Another other strategy is to reduce the severity of the exposure. Let's say for example that when you make entry to a house fire wearing street clothes you get 100 units of exposure and by wearing your turnout gear that exposure drops to 50 units. Your turnout gear is made of woven textiles. The exposure was reduced because the gear itself captured those 50 units of hazard. Those hazards in your gear are made of chemicals that are pretty active and/or pretty "sticky." Given enough time these chemicals will migrate out of your gear and onto your skin and through your skin into your bloodstream.

Think about it like this: The gear dropped the severity of your exposure from 100 down to 50 but if you don't take your gear off and clean yourself you exposure climbs back up to 60 or 70 units over time. How much time? No one can say for sure but only wearing your gear when necessary reduces the severity of the exposure.

Post Incident Decontamination

Our approach to post incident decontamination is to:

Acknowledge that the hazards exist
Understand that there are two basic ways to reduce hazard exposure: reduce frequency and reduce severity
To acknowledge that everyone has a personal responsibility to ensure their own safety and risk reduction
To acknowledge that each situation is different and in every case there are additional hazards, such as temperature, terrain, or other considerations to balance against the needs of decontamination.

Principles of Post Incident Decontamination

Each individual is responsible for their own safety

Personnel should seek to reduce exposure to contaminates
1. Removal of the outer layer-turnout gear- represents huge reduction in exposure
2. Cleaning of self (with wipes initially and later a shower)]
Get as clean as possible as soon as possible.
The minimum decon for fires are off-gassing and personal decontamination.
The incident commander for each incident is ultimately responsible for determining the type of decontamination.
Decontamination is always required for structure fires where personnel operate inside a structure or operate outside the structure in the presence of smoke or other hazardous substances.
Decon from the top down.
For post structure fire decontamination the best method available is for personnel to be decontaminated using soap and water decontamination prior to disconnecting their SCBA facepiece.

Types of Decontamination

MCFRS recognizes four basic types of post incident decontamination. These methods are listed in order of ease to execute BUT they are also listed in order of effectiveness. It turns out that the easier thing to do is also the least effective. The objective to get as clean as you can, as fast as you can.

Off-Gassing: Vapors and gases can be trapped in uniforms, personal protective equipment, and any other textile based equipment. The gases and vapors of highest concern tend to be volatile, meaning that with time and exposure to fresh air they will work themselves out of the garments. Providing time for gases and vapors to “off-gas” reduces exposures to personnel.

Dry Decontamination: Dry decontamination is the mechanical removal of particulate matter from personnel, tools, and equipment with a brush.

Wet-Decontamination. Wet decontamination uses water to assist in the removal of particulate matter from personnel, tools, and equipment. One benefit of wet decontamination as opposed to dry decontamination is that by wetting the particulates you reduce the amount in the air available for inhalation.

Soap and Water Decontamination. In this context soap refers to a mild dish detergent. The soap is a surfactant that aides in the removal of sooty ("sticky") particulates. The soap and water method is the preferred method for post-fire decontamination and for decontamination after exposure to unknown hazardous substances.

Personal Decontamination: Personal decontamination is the process of removing hazardous substances from the skin by wipes (on the scene) and showering (back in quarters).

For Incident Commanders

Decontamination is an important part of the incident management process. Incident commanders should consider assigning a decontamination officer (or group supervisor) and assigning resources to support that function. Arguably most crews would be able to decon each other having oversight would be beneficial.

Click Here to download a checklist for Decon Officer and Overhaul precautions all in one.

Click Here to view proposed Decontamination Manual Cards