MOD F TECH 45 Hazardous substances Flashcards
Hazmat v C.B.R.N
•Hazmat – “accidental release of substance, agent or material which results in injury or illness to the public or denial of an area or interruption of the food chain.”
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•C.B.R.N – “Is a deliberate, malicious and murderous act, the intention of which is to kill, sicken or prevent society from continuing with their normal daily basis.”
The Role of the Ambulance Service
- Co-ordination of NHS resources at the scene.
- Act as gatekeeper to the wider NHS.
- Decontamination of casualties.
- Treatment and care of casualties at scene.
- Provision of appropriate means of transporting casualties to treatment centres.
- Provide NHS communications at scene.
Chemical Agents
- Chemicals can change when mixed with other substances and when heated or cooled.
- The resulting compound can have different properties from that of the original substance.
- We are not chemists, seek expert advice as soon as possible.
Chemical Release
•Liquids and gases that are heavier than air and some solids will flow down hill.
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•Gases and particles will be taken up by the wind and thermal currents to form a downwind current.
Biological
- Very difficult to detect.
- Incident identified when people become ill – detected through public health monitoring.
- Biological agents can ebb and flow in the environment in the same way as chemicals.
Radiological
- Radiation is radiation – it does not change like chemicals.
- Radiated material will spread in the same way as chemicals.
- Much easier to detect and monitor than chemicals.
Dynamic Risk Assessment
•Dynamic
“ever changing and evolving”
•Hazard
“anything that can cause harm”
•Risk
“is the chance (either great or small) that someone will be harmed by the hazard”
•Assessment
“Analysis of information gathered from the incident site and used to implement appropriate safe measures of work”
Safety
•Dynamic Risk Assessment
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•STEP 1-2-3 – Safety Triggers
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•Protection – Responders
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Protection – At Scene
Safety Triggers for Emergency Personnel - STEP 1-2-3
To be used when cause is unknown
STEP 1 -ONE Casualty
Approach using normal procedures.
STEP 2 -TWO Casualties
Approach with caution, consider all options, report on arrival and update control.
STEP 3 –THREE or more Casualties
Do NOT approach scene.
Withdraw, Contain, Report, Isolate Yourself,
Send for Specialist Help
A.L.A.R.P Principle
•H.S.E – Reduction of Risk
“As Low As Reasonably Practical”
- “..determining that risks have been reduced ALARP involves an assessment of the risk to be avoided, of the sacrifice (in money, time and trouble) involved in taking measures to avoid that risk, and a comparison of the two”
- Only applies to risks over which duty holder has control and that relate to legislation e.g. HSW Act (1974) COMAH (1999)
Communications
•All on site communications will be via Airwave terminals – secure and resilient
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•EOC will instruct resources mobile to an incident which talkgroup to use
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•EMAS Major Incident talkgroups designated by AIC
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•When en-route to or leaving from scene resources should remain on the Major Incident Talk Group unless instructed differently by EOC
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•Silvers / Bronzes can utilise Interoperability talkgroups with other emergency services
Counter terrorism and extreme threat awareness
- Mass Casualties
- No warnings
- Max. Media Coverage
- Prepared to die
- Change of Methods
- CBRNe elements
The items on the left contain suspected improvised explosive devices (IED). What would be regarded as the MINIMUM cordon distance for each device?
Small items - Minimum 100m cordon
Medium objects - Minimum 200m cordon
Large objects - Minimum 400m cordon
Active shooters
- Raoul Moat
- Cumbria shootings
- Lone gunmen in public places shooting indiscriminately
Marauding Terrorists
- Mumbai type attack
- Multiple gunmen with automatic weapons
- Use of IEDs and explosive devices
Possible triggers to look for
- Co-ordinated attack on multiple simultaneous locations
- Explosions or sounds of explosions
- Semi automatic/automatic weapons used
- Uniformed staff as targets – secondary attacks at RV points
- Shooting accompanied by words
- Fires/IEDS or grenades
- Reports of people reloading ammunition
- Iconic sites or crowded places affected
EH20 Escape Hood
Simple, Fast, Effective
Performance
•Also provides protection against all other NIOSH gases:
Formaldehyde 100 mins
Phosphine 40 mins
Nitrogen Dioxide 50 mins
Sulphur Dioxide 30 mins
Ammonia 10 mins
When measured in dry air
•Main exterior materials give >30 minute permeation resistance. Inhalation and Exhalation resistance meet NIOSH requirements of 1% CO2 level
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•NIOSH – National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety
When to use the EH20 ?
•Following a Dynamic Risk Assessment.
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- The situations in which the EH20 is donned will be varied, but all will involve the ‘common theme’ (step 1-2-3).
- At any time when you believe you are in a potential CBRN environment
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•Remember – it’s an Escape Hood.
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•Please now refer to the guidance document in your pack.
Confined Spaces
2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile
(C.S. Gas)
Commonly-used chemicals
Acid sources
- Toilet cleaner
- Tile and stone cleaner
- Sulphuric acid
- Some disinfectants
Sulphur sources
- Artist oil paints
- Dandruff shampoos
- Pesticides
- Latex paints
- Fungicides
Lime sulphur
