Medical group decontamination team freshens up skills

  • Published
  • By Kate Blais
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) --  The set-up outside of the 95th Medical Clinic here March 17 looked like a scene from a disaster movie. Medics dressed in plastic suits worked to decontaminate patients while acting as a barrier between the infected and the clean.

Fortunately, the scene outside of the medical clinic was simulated. The patients were one dummy and one completely healthy volunteer, and the decontamination consisted of scrubbing off simulated chemical agents with soap and water.

But for the 95th Medical Group's In-Place Patient Decontamination Team, their three-day training was "about as real as it gets," according to Tom Bocek, contract training manager and instructor for the workshop.

"The whole purpose of this (training) is that if a patient presents himself as contaminated and gets inside the clinic, that contaminated patient can contaminate the entire clinic and shut down operations," Mr. Bocek said. "This in-place patient decon team can be thought of as the medical shield for the medical operations so that patients can be cleaned and the medical personnel can do what they really want to do, and that is save the patient."

The entire course consists of both classroom and hands-on training. Mr. Bocek spent an eight-hour day with the team in the classroom focusing on different types of chemical warfare agents, signs and symptoms of contaminated patients and possible complications that may arise.

"We focus on the most persistent chemical warfare agents because those are the ones that are difficult to decontaminate," said Mr. Bocek. "We also talk about biological and radiological decontamination. In addition, the team learns what a medical warm zone is and how to interact and complement other agencies operating there."

Mr. Bocek explained that the area of direct contamination is referred to as a hot zone, with an adjacent warm zone set-up for patients pulled directly out of the hot zone. The medical warm zone, however, is set-up outside of a medical clinic in order to prevent patients who have self-presented from possibly contaminating the entire medical facility.

"This training will assure that not only (does the team) get the basics, but now they're getting more advanced training," said Chief Master Sgt. David Gilmore, 95th MDG superintendent.

"For instance, if we had a clinic that was deemed to be chemical free, and we didn't decontaminate certain patients, we could end up losing other patients already in the clinic and all 270 medics in the clinic to the chemical agent," he said.

The hands-on training consisted of assembling the shelter, the containment system for waste-water run-off and the hydrant system and practicing processing patients using a dummy and an Airman volunteer. Mr. Bocek covered many procedures including the appropriate administration of atropine, an antidote to nerve-agent poisoning.

"We learned life-saving skills to decontaminate and save victims of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or hazardous materials," said Master Sgt. Valerie Vasquez, 95th Medical Support Squadron alternate decon team chief. "It not only protects the victims but the medical personnel treating them as well. I'm confident that this team can now perform decon if put in the situation where it was needed."

The team trains once every quarter to stay sharp.

"This (training) is a requirement," said Col. Janet Taylor, 95th MDG commander. "Annually, we have (the contractor) come out and just re-assess and re-validate our training, making sure that what we're doing is appropriate and that the individuals actually on the team are ready all the time."

Colonel Taylor is pleased with her team's efforts.

"They're doing an outstanding job," she said. "Every day it's important to be prepared for everything that we can."