An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

ARTICLE SEARCH

Medical Airmen prepare for chemical events

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Sean Campbell
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  The 92nd Medical Group In-Place Patient Decontamination team conducted decontamination training at Fairchild Aug. 1-2, 2018.

The team’s primary objectives are to decontaminate all personnel in the event of chemical exposure before entering the MDG to save lives and prevent the medical facility from being contaminated.

“We prepare the medics for any type of decontamination event,” said Charlie Jansen, Decon LLC instructor consultant, “Whether it’s a large or small scale event, Chemical Biological Radioactive Nuclear Environmental or hazmat spill.”

The training focused on personal-protective equipment training and simulating putting patients through the decontamination process. Decontamination is a method of eliminating surface contaminants on equipment or personnel. The process reduces the spread of hazardous agents to other people and locations.

“The First day of training is in the classroom we talked about hazardous materials and their affects, triage, equipment, personal-protective equipment and how to use it so they’re not contaminating the patients themselves,” said Jansen. “The second is the practical, hands-on portion, where they take what they learned in the classroom and put it into practice.”

The students set the decontamination area and suit up in protective gear as well as conduct a triage session, process ambulatory patients and litter patients.


“We’re all trained to do everything the team does,” said 1st Lt. Jeremy Thompson, 92nd Medical Operations Squadron physician’s assistant. “Knowing the value of teamwork and working together is highly important in effectively completing the tasks at hand.”