Monday, February 29, 2016

Importance Of Portable Decontamination Shower

By Jennifer Long


Circumstances can occur that call for cleaning of a human body to get rid of contamination from radioactive substances, toxic chemicals and infection causing agents. These materials affect the health of a person and can be detrimental to the safety of a property. To achieve the cleaning, portable decontamination shower are used.

Exposure to the harmful chemicals can occur due to a number of reasons. Some might be accidental, intentional or an occupational hazard. Use of nuclear materials by terrorists exposes casualties to radioactive agents. In spite of workers being given personal protection equipments, situations can arise where they get exposed to the chemical. Persons exposed to areas of life threatening contagious diseases need to be cleaned out before they are managed at hospitals.

Some industries require all personnel working for them to undergo routine decontamination. However, an accident can occur that may cause them to need more decon showers. The United State department of Labor requires industries to have emergency means of disinfecting personnel in addition to routine procedures. During chemical accidents, the wash out is done on the site of the accident before the casualties are transported.

Decon showers are almost similar to the household ones except that the decon ones have bigger showerheads for maximum washout. They are made of steel bodies to ensure they are free of bacterial accumulation on the levers. For maximum cleaning out effect, there must be enough water that is clean in portable tanks. The water temperature must meet the ANSI safety regulations. It must be tepid.

Modern devices have sensors that activate the system once a person steps in cleaning zone. The unit should be able to accommodate the ambulant and non ambulant victims in a favorable way. To ensure comfort of the victim, the environment should be well heated. The unit should be set up such that there is good air flow to avoid contamination of air from evaporating chemicals. The flow rate of water must be high.

There are many decon units a company can purchase or hire. Some accommodate only a single person while others can contain multiple persons. There are those that can be disassembled to small parts and set up again. Some are light in weight and others heavy. When purchasing, the number of casualty is the main determinant to consider and the ease of setting up the equipment.

These units are always put up close to the scene of the incident. At least it should take a casualty ten seconds to reach the unit. Upon arrival, they shed off any clothes or valuables they have. Next they get to the clean zone where the actual decontamination takes place. The persons spend about fifteen minutes in the water. Then they are provided with clean clothes and referred for medical checkup.

The equipment should be set in a safe place. Care should be taken to prevent more trauma experience on the victim. The sooner the action is taken after an accident, the better the outcome.




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