Fundamentals of Fire Fighter Skills, Third Edition
Chapter 34: Hazardous Materials: Decontamination
Chief Concepts
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Decontamination makes personnel, equipment, and supplies safe by removing or
reducing hazardous materials or WMDs. Proper decontamination is essential at every
hazardous material/WMD incident to ensure the safety of both personnel and property.
Cross-contamination is the process by which a contaminant is carried out of the hot zone
and contaminates people, animals, the environment, or equipment. Cross-contamination
may occur in several ways:
• A contaminated victim comes into physical contact with an emergency responder.
• A bystander or other emergency responder comes into contact with a
contaminated object from the hot zone.
• A decontaminated responder comes into contact with another contaminated
responder or object.
Fire fighters are often responsible for establishing a decontamination corridor.
There are four major categories of decontamination:
• Emergency decontamination—Aims to reduce the amount of surface contaminant.
Involves dousing the victim with water via a hose line outside of a
decontamination corridor. Formal decontamination is performed later.
• Gross decontamination—Uses a large shower system in a decontamination
corridor. This type of decontamination is used for a brief and rapid contamination
reduction.
• Technical decontamination—Performed after gross decontamination and may
involve several steps.
• Mass decontamination—Used to decontaminate large groups of people in the
field. Victims will need to undergo further and more thorough decontamination.
Alternative decontamination procedures include the following options:
• Absorption—Use of a spongy material to soak up the hazardous material. This
technique is used to decontaminate equipment and property.
• Adsorption—Binding of the contaminant to the surface of an added material,
which is disposed of.
• Dilution—Use of soap and water to flush the hazardous material off a person or
object.
• Disinfection—Process used to destroy disease-carrying organisms.
• Disposal—Two-step removal process for items that cannot be decontaminated
properly.
• Solidification—Chemical process of treating a hazardous liquid to become a
solid.
• Emulsification—Process of neutralizing or reducing the harmful effects of a
hazardous material by changing its chemical properties.
• Vapor dispersion—Process of separating and diminishing harmful vapors, often
with a water spray.
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Removal—Process of removing contaminated soil from a hazardous materials
site.
Vacuuming—Removal of dusts, particles, and liquids by sucking them up into a
container.
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