Post by brassmonkey on Sept 25, 2008 22:30:09 GMT -5
Tonite we brought the Mass Decon Unit from Rutland to Winchendon and trained on how to set it up and utilize it.
One thing about this training-while it may look like a neat piece of equipment, you don't ever want to see this piece of equipment staged in your neighborhood! If you see this tent set up, something very bad has happened.
Massachusetts is fully covered for chemical attacks or industrial accidents with these MDU's in strategic locations to be deployable on short notice. Each one is identical in its contents, but not it's stowage.. Some departments, such as Rutland, have chosen to deploy the contents of the trailer that the state provided them, assess its setup strategy and pack it accordingly, making for a much faster deployment next time.
Every hospital has also been provided an MDU for decon of the patients slated for intake to prevent shutting the entire hospital down due to contamination.
We trained on RAM decon and actually had some good sports who did this live, wearing rubber suits, of course... In real life, if you were covered in a chemical or biological agent of some questionable origin, modesty would be out the window, and you'd be going through this exercise in your birthday suit!
The first and most crude of the decon procedures is the RAM decon. Here we will have two engines with nozzles facing each other in a fog pattern with a ladder overhead with another line strung overhead spraying downward. The deluge of water ensures that you are rinsed thoroughly, even if you are too modest to disrobe... You will have hundreds of gallons wash over you as you navigate this shower, and every millimeter of you will be wet and rinsed.
Here is the trailer that all of the equipment comes in. It's very compact:
Here's one view of the decon tent fully erected and functional:
What you have in a decon tent is a male side, a female side and a non-ambulatory section routed right down the middle. Even if you cannot decon yourself, we will decontaminate you.
The tent is also three distinct sections. The first is the disrobing section, the middle, or second section, is where you will be decontaminated with alternating hot and cold streams of water, and the third section is for drying off and donning a crude gown made of either plastic or Tyvek. The final section is heated with a kerosene heater.
If you cannot walk or are already on a backboard, you will take a ride on this conveyor..
Here, a simulated non-ambulatory patient is washed and passed into the drying portion of the decon tent. Notice that there are 4 hoses hanging from the ceiling of the tent for decon of the patient:
One thing about this training-while it may look like a neat piece of equipment, you don't ever want to see this piece of equipment staged in your neighborhood! If you see this tent set up, something very bad has happened.
Massachusetts is fully covered for chemical attacks or industrial accidents with these MDU's in strategic locations to be deployable on short notice. Each one is identical in its contents, but not it's stowage.. Some departments, such as Rutland, have chosen to deploy the contents of the trailer that the state provided them, assess its setup strategy and pack it accordingly, making for a much faster deployment next time.
Every hospital has also been provided an MDU for decon of the patients slated for intake to prevent shutting the entire hospital down due to contamination.
We trained on RAM decon and actually had some good sports who did this live, wearing rubber suits, of course... In real life, if you were covered in a chemical or biological agent of some questionable origin, modesty would be out the window, and you'd be going through this exercise in your birthday suit!
The first and most crude of the decon procedures is the RAM decon. Here we will have two engines with nozzles facing each other in a fog pattern with a ladder overhead with another line strung overhead spraying downward. The deluge of water ensures that you are rinsed thoroughly, even if you are too modest to disrobe... You will have hundreds of gallons wash over you as you navigate this shower, and every millimeter of you will be wet and rinsed.
Here is the trailer that all of the equipment comes in. It's very compact:
Here's one view of the decon tent fully erected and functional:
What you have in a decon tent is a male side, a female side and a non-ambulatory section routed right down the middle. Even if you cannot decon yourself, we will decontaminate you.
The tent is also three distinct sections. The first is the disrobing section, the middle, or second section, is where you will be decontaminated with alternating hot and cold streams of water, and the third section is for drying off and donning a crude gown made of either plastic or Tyvek. The final section is heated with a kerosene heater.
If you cannot walk or are already on a backboard, you will take a ride on this conveyor..
Here, a simulated non-ambulatory patient is washed and passed into the drying portion of the decon tent. Notice that there are 4 hoses hanging from the ceiling of the tent for decon of the patient:
