introduction: hospitals are often considered to be the forefront of countering incidents, some of which result from a wide range of incidents including industrial accidents, natural outbreaks of disease, and regional accidents called chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (cbrn) accidents. this study was conducted to assess the level of preparedness, capacity, and capability of respond...

Our Institute's nuclear, biological, and chemical defense research team continuously investigates and develops preparations for skin decontamination against nerve agents. In this in vivo study, we evaluated skin decontamination efficacy against sarin by a synthetic preparation called Mineral Cationic Carrier (MCC) with known ion exchange, absorption efficacy and bioactive potential. Mice were t...

Determine the effectiveness of decontamination, and perform thorough dry or wet decontamination, depending on the circumstances. Always remain cognizant of the fact that, even after decontamination has been completed, contamination may not have been completely eliminated. Perform periodic monitoring to determine whether secondary exposure has occurred in health care workers; if it appears that ...

An inexpensive and rapid bioassay using adult red flour beetles was developed for use in assessing the decontamination of environments containing organophosphates and related chemicals. A decontamination protocol was developed which demonstrated that 2 to 3 applications of 5% bleach solution were required to obtain nearly complete decontamination of malathion. The bioassay was also used to scre...

Several photocatalytic nanoparticles are synthesized and studied for potential application for the degradation of organic and biological wastes. Although these materials degrade organic compounds by advance oxidation process, the exact mechanisms of microbial decontamination remains partially known. Understanding the real mechanisms of these materials for microbial cell death and growth inhibit...

While most of the focus is currently on communities and the health care service sector to have plans and supplies in place for mass victim decontamination, it is just as important for facilities to have proper decontamination (or "decon") procedures in place for emergencies that could occur at their facilities. Written decontamination procedures are required under the Occupational Safety and He...

BACKGROUND A number of significant chemical incidents occur in the UK each year and may require Emergency Departments (EDs) to receive and manage contaminated casualties. Previously UK EDs have been found to be under-prepared for this, but since October 2005 acute hospital Trusts have had a statutory responsibility to maintain decontamination capacity. We aimed to evaluate the level of prepared...

There is currently a need in developing new decontamination technologies for spices due to limitations of existing technologies, mainly regarding their effects on spices' sensory quality. In the search of new decontamination solutions, it is of interest to compare different technologies, to provide the industry with knowledge for taking decisions concerning appropriate decontamination technolog...

Healthcare associated infection represents a major burden for critically ill patients; a recent point prevalence survey by the Health Protection Agency observed that 23.4% of patients in intensive care units had evidence of a healthcare associated infection.Ventilator associated pneumonia remains the leading cause of nosocomial infection in this population, and, although recent estimates of att...