Hazard assessment of first receivers in medical facilities responding to a toxic industrial chemical (TIC) or a chemical warfare agent (CWA) terrorism incident.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ehrman S ; Ferguson CP ; Fischer BW ; Hutton M ; Stuempfle AK
• Description:
  The objective was to computationally estimate the potential hazardous vapor concentrations in hospital emergency departments (EDs) as the result of a terrorist attack. The purpose of these estimations is to support standards development by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for Non-Tight Fitting Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPRs) worn by first receivers in the ED. Seven Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs) and two Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) were chosen as representative chemicals. Mathematical estimation models were developed for hazard analyses of a treatment room, central console room, and the space immediately surrounding a casualty in a "Representative Hospital." The models estimated the casualty's contamination upon ED arrival, the amount brought into the ED, and the peak vapor concentrations for different ventilation and airflow conditions. Numerous data gaps were uncovered and the values assigned to the data deficiencies affected the estimates. An approach was also proposed for assessing the potential hazards in the ED following a terrorist release of three Class "A" biological agents. The efficacy of a water deluge decontamination process was examined using a parametric approach. Numerous approximations were required and experimental data are needed for validation. The removal of contaminated clothing and 'effective' decontamination processes are critical in minimizing the ED's vapor hazard. An N95 mask does not protect against hazardous vapors.
  
  This report is only available upon approved requests made to Frank Palya. Telephone: (412) 386-6111 or e-mail: fcp2@cdc.gov.
  
  NPPTL
  
  P.O. Box 18070
  
  626 Cochrans Mill Road
  
  Pittsburgh, PA 15236
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Occupational Health Safety Volatilization Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: First Receivers Chemical-warfare-agents Chemical Warfare Agent CWA Emergency-responders Emergency Department First Responders Hazard Analysis Hazardous-materials Health-care-facilities Health-care-personnel Homeland Defense Hospital Preparedness Hot-Zone Skin-exposure Terrorism TIC Toxic Industrial Chemical Vulnerability Assessment Warm-Zone WMD

  More +
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Final Contract Report
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-266
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20033441
• Citation:
  Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2013 Jul; :1-266
• Contact Point Address:
  Frank Palya Jr., National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, P.O. Box 1807, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  OptiMetrics, Inc., Abingdon, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Hazard assessment of first receivers in medical facilities responding to a toxic industrial chemical (TIC) or a chemical warfare agent (CWA) terrorism incident
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bb5ac056c34058fa7750f8f747c03963fabd5ad8f6dfd3bd05e2abc508e535f46f26afa25510a62fc465aa2f1ecb569551a65a3ec9d2f07085dd50ff7e6086c7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/181483/cdc_181483_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 187.46 KB ]