ERTI has developed a hospital-based patient decontamination program designed to give hospitals the basic training needed to deal with the repercussions of a weapons of mass destruction incident or large scale hazardous materials release involving mass casualties.
The objective of the program is to give hospital personnel the tools they need to contain and decontaminate large numbers of people, while maintaining site control and minimizing or eliminating contamination to the hospital while saving lives.
The 12-hour program is divided into two parts:
- Pre-study workbook (constitutes 4 hours of the course).
- 8-hour competency based program with hands-on decontamination drills.
A study guide containing information from multiple resources is provided as a reference for the course. It follows the national standards and guidelines of the National Fire Protection Agency, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organization and the U.S. Army Soldiers Biological and Chemical Command. The study guide is designed to give hospital personnel awareness level knowledge prior to starting the classroom and competency based training.
Upon completion of the course, ERTI certifies that individual students have met the knowledge, skills and abilities of the Hospital Decontamination Program. The minimum requirements established for this program meet or exceed the standards set forth by NFPA 472, JCAHO E.C.1.4, WAC and WISHA. Additionally, the program was designed with consideration for the recommendations of the NFPA Supplemental Guideline for Hospital Decontamination.