G-13. Decontaminate a Litter Biological Agent Patient
a. Remove the patient's personal effects. Place the patient's personal effects in a clean bag and label with the patient's identification. If they are not contaminated, give them to him. If his personal effects are contaminated, place the bagged items in the contaminated storage area until they can be decontaminated, and then return them to the patient.
b. Remove the Field Medical Card. Remove the FMC by cutting the tie wire and allowing the FMC to drop into a plastic bag. Keep the FMC with the patient.
c. Remove the patient's clothing. Patient decontamination team members first apply the 5 percent hypochlorite solution to the patient's clothing and the litter. Then, remove the patient's clothing as in decontamination of chemical agent patients. Bandages, tourniquets, and splints are not removed. Move patient to a clean litter as described for a chemical agent patient. Place patient's clothing in a plastic bag and dispose in the contaminated waste dump.
d. Decontaminate the patient's skin. Bathe the patient with soap and warm water or apply the 0.5 percent hypochlorite solution. The trauma specialist places a new tourniquet ½ to 1 inch above the old tourniquet, and then he removes the old one. The trauma specialist removes bandages and decontaminates the skin and wound with the 0.5 percent hypochlorite solution; he replaces the bandage, if needed, to control hemorrhage. Splints are disinfected by soaking the splint, cravats, and straps with the 0.5 percent hypochlorite solution.
NOTE
Use a 0.5 percent hypochlorite solution to decontaminate patients suspected of being contaminated with mycotoxins.
e. Transfer patient to hot line. Two decontamination team members move patient to the hot line. Request assistance from two other decontamination team members to transfer him to a clean litter as described for chemical agent patients. Place the patient's FMC in the plastic bag on the clean litter with him. Two trauma specialists from the clean side of the hot line move the patient from the hot line to the clean treatment/holding area.