Emergency Preparedness

Appendix H.3 – CHEMICAL

Kern Medical Emergency Preparedness

Chemical Disaster (Code Orange/Triage) • PURPOSE: Provide procedures and minimize risks to patients, staff, and others coming to the hospital’s facilities during a Hazardous Materials/Chemical Disaster. • POLICY STATEMENT: It is the policy of Kern Medical to provide guidelines for hospital personnel to follow during a Code Orange. To have an organized and effective response to a Hazardous Spill within Kern Medical occupied buildings. Providing for the safety of patients, visitors, employees, staff, and other occupants of the building in a hazardous Spill situation is the primary goal. • PROCEDURE: EM .02.02.05 (5) the plan identifies means for radioactive, biological, and chemical isolation and decontamination: Facilities for decontamination are maintained and coordinated through the Engineering Department, Emergency Department (ED), Security, Safety, Administration, Emergency Management and EOC /Safety Committees. KERN MEDICAL is equipped to manage decontamination with specified chemical agents, provided the agent and concentration is known. Kern Medical staff can utilize the external decontamination shower built next to the ED ambulance entrance and/or set up two decontamination areas if the incident warrants. The hospital’s designated decontamination room has a separate ventilation system and a contained water runoff collection system. KERN MEDICAL has personnel trained in the response to chemical or hazardous material contamination. These personnel include medical, nursing and ancillary staff. KERN MEDICAL currently has two designated decontamination areas. The first is external to the west side of the ED ambulance bay entrance and second is on the west side of the ED interior ambulance door entrance

Chemical decontamination situations are responded to in concert with the Safety Officer. Hazmat events including radioactive, chemical & biological events are handled based on Kern Medical’s Hazmat / Decontamination procedures for emergency departments and support departments. Pursuant to exposure conditions, KERN MEDICAL may establish a chemical hazmat decontamination triage setting external to Emergency department when appropriate and in unknown exposures may defer to the local fire departments Hazmat team. Bakersfield City and Kern County fire departments have mobile HAZMART response teams.

 Minor Spills  In the event of a minor spill that pose no immediate threat to health,

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