Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2. Patients who are unsteady standing and/or
walking should be given a walker upon entry
into the Decon Corridor. The walker should
be used to assist with ambulation until they
get to the end of the line when it should be
retrieved, deconned, and returned to the front
of the Decon Corridor for the next patient who
needs it.
Poison Center and/or a dentist. The patient's
mouth should be decontaminated with mouth-
wash or saline that is gargled and safely spit
out into a bio-hazard bag. Note that, depending
on the contaminant, it may not be possible to
decontaminate plastic items, such as dentures.
Law Enforcement Officers with Weapons
1. In most cases law enforcement personnel who
have been injured on the scene will have had
their gun(s) removed before arrival and given
to a fellow officer. However, if that is not
the case, the weapon should be left in the
holster and the gun belt removed by a Decon
Team member and placed in a clear plastic bag
labeled with the patient's name and/or clothing
number. The bag should then be passed to the
Treatment Sector where it should be given to
a fellow officer or hospital Security Officer
for safe keeping until it can be given to a
representative of the injured officers depart-
ment.
The gun should be left in the holster if
at all possible
. If the gun must be removed, it
should be handled by a Decon Team member
familiar with firearms, rendered safe, placed in
a clear plastic bag marked with the patient's
name and/or clothing identification number,
and given to a fellow officer or hospital Secu-
rity Officer in the Treatment Sector.
2. Decon Team personnel should be aware that
oftentimes an officer may have a backup
weapon usually found in a holster near the
ankle, in their pocket, in a ballistic vest, or
near an armpit. The holster with the weapon
in place should be removed and secured as
described above.
3. An officer's gun belt may also contain items
that could prove dangerous if allowed to get
in the wrong hands. Thus, the belt should be
collected and separately bagged ASAP and
passed to a fellow officer or hospital Security
Officer in the Treatment Sector.
DECONNING OF AN OFFICER'S WEAPON
AND/OR GUN BELT WILL BE THE RESPON-
SIBILITY OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
.
Percutaneous Lines/Saline Locks
1. Unless contaminated, percutaneous lines and
saline locks should be covered with Tegoderm
or Saran wrap before the area is decontami-
nated.
2. Contaminated percutaneous lines or saline
locks should be removed before being decon-
taminated. After the area is cleaned, a dressing
should be applied until in the Treatment Sector
where antibiotic ointment and a new bandage
should be applied.
Hearing Aids
Hearing aids CANNOT be immersed or otherwise
be soaked with water. Thus, they should either be
removed and placed in the valuables portion of the
patient's clothing bag or if they must be used by the
patient because there is no hearing without them,
they should be carefully wiped off with a slightly
saline moistened 4
4 gauze, dried off, put into a
clear plastic bag, and handed to the patient. The
cleaned hearing aid is NOT to be worn until the
patient has completed the decon process (including
washing the ears) and is in the Treatment Sector.
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Dentures
1. Unless the oral cavity is contaminated dentures
should remain in place and no decontamination
is necessary.
2.
If the oral cavity is contaminated, then the
dentures should be removed, placed in a
clear plastic bag with the patient's name or
clothing identification number placed on it.
The dentures should later be decontaminated in
accordance with instructions received from the
