Emergency decontamination procedures

Fire and rescue services should

• Develop a method for removing chemical protective clothing in emergency situations
• Develop a method for removing structural firefighting PPE in emergency situations
• Recognise the possible need for health intervention for any personnel where emergency decontamination is required
• Ensure all personnel are aware of the procedures to be adopted for emergency decontamination
• Recognise that it may be unlikely for specialist advice to be available at the time when emergency decontamination is required and therefore have procedures to ensure personnel have access to guidance in the methods to be used
• Investigate any circumstance that results in the need to perform emergency decontamination

Incident commanders should

• Instigate emergency procedures if personnel or responders are accidentally contaminated or exposed