Civilian First Responder Decontamination Equipment Characteristics Survey Results

摘要

The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center Decision Analysis Team (DAT) was tasked by the Department of Homeland Security/National Institute of Standards and Technology (DHS/NIST) Standards Development Team to develop a survey to determine important characteristics of first responder decontamination equipment. The DAT created a survey with questions in 10 areas relating to decontamination, including time, ease of use, reliability/maintainability, operating conditions, transportability, consumable resources required, human factors, interoperability, power requirements, and operational interface. The survey was released on the Responder Knowledge Base website in the fourth quarter of FY08. Responses were received from 874 First Responders (e.g., firefighters, hazardous material team members, police officers, emergency medical technicians, nurses, etc.) across the United States. The DAT analyzed the responses to determine trends and develop general conclusions. The Standards Development Team then used this information to generate a draft American Society for Testing Materials standard for civilian first responder decontamination systems.