Evaluation of a Hospital Decontamination Protocol for Mass Casualty Patient Surge

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dc.contributor.advisorGratton, Terry
dc.contributor.committeeMemberRamphal, Lilly
dc.contributor.committeeMemberLarranaga, Michael
dc.creatorHood, Joyce L.
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-22T21:51:13Z
dc.date.available2019-08-22T21:51:13Z
dc.date.issued2007-05-01
dc.date.submitted2014-02-05T06:30:05-08:00
dc.description.abstractHood, Joyce L., Evaluation of a Hospital Decontamination Protocol for Mass Casualty Patient Surge. Master of Public Health (Occupational Health Practice), May 2007, 43 pp., 3 tables, 10 illustrations, references, 25 titles. Recent studies have expressed concern about hospitals’ ability to decontaminate casualties who have been contaminated with chemical, biological or radioactive agents. Since September 11, 2001, more attention has focused on hospital preparedness, but prior to 9/11, most of the focus was on decontamination in the field rather than pre-hospital. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two urban hospitals’ decontamination teams using quantitative methods. Subjects were contaminated with equal amounts of visible and invisible simulants in six locations. Residual contamination was measured and the team was debriefed regarding opportunities for improvement. Considerable improvements were noted after de-briefing, but initially the surface area of contamination was not appreciably affected before briefing was done. The effect of shower time and residual contamination was also examined. Hospital decontamination preparedness is minimal at best, even in large urban hospitals, increasing the risk of secondary contamination within the emergency departments.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12503/29630
dc.language.isoen
dc.provenance.legacyDownloads0
dc.subjectEmergency Medicine
dc.subjectEnvironmental Public Health
dc.subjectHealth and Medical Administration
dc.subjectHealth Services Administration
dc.subjectHealth Services Research
dc.subjectMedicine and Health Sciences
dc.subjectOccupational Health and Industrial Hygiene
dc.subjectOther Public Health
dc.subjectPublic Health
dc.subjectHospital
dc.subjectdecontamination protocol
dc.subjectmass casualty
dc.subjectpatient surge
dc.subjectchemical agents
dc.subjectbiological agents
dc.subjectradioactive agents
dc.subjectresidual contamination
dc.subjectsecondary contamination
dc.subjectemergency departments
dc.titleEvaluation of a Hospital Decontamination Protocol for Mass Casualty Patient Surge
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialtext
thesis.degree.departmentSchool of Public Health
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Public Health

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