NCJ Number
194376
Journal
The Beacon Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: January 2001 Pages: 1-7
Date Published
January 2001
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This newsletter focuses on a program for preparing for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in San Jose (California); test methods for personal protective clothing systems in chemical environments; and the Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS) project.
Abstract
San Jose is heavily invested in high tech and biotechnology commerce and materials for WMD/nuclear biological and chemical (NBC) activities are readily available locally. The San Jose Metropolitan Medical Task Force was developed to create a response plan specific to a WMD/NBC event. A committee was assembled to represent all the professions needed to create and staff the Metropolitan Medical Task Force. Once the Task Force was formed, the city began to develop a list of pharmaceuticals, equipment, and supplies, acquire these, and plan for their custody and deployment. The Committee developed a plan based on the Incident Command System and the Standardized Emergency Management System. The plan detailed patient care and standard operating procedures in the field, with a focus on the special circumstances of response, responder safety, patient care, and interagency operations required by a WMD/NBC event. A list of pharmaceuticals needed by responders to and victims of a WMD/NBC event was provided. Two different tests are used to assess the performance of personal protective clothing (PPC) systems in chemical environments. The first is infiltration tests for Level-A protective systems designed to minimize all exposure to materials in the environment. These tests measure the amount of chemical that gets into the protective clothing system from the environment. Absorption tests called Man-In-Simulant (MIS) measure chemical absorption at the skin. For protective systems receiving MIS testing, protection factors are not as large as those for Level-A systems, however protection factors should be large enough to reduce toxic hazards to an acceptable level for the given emergency situation. The HEICS is an emergency management system that employs a logical management structure, defined responsibilities, clear reporting channels, and a common nomenclature to help unify hospitals with other emergency responders.