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Developing A Novel MASS

DECONTamination Unit

More information about our design and development progress can be found throughout the site.

BackGround

In recent years, disaster preparedness regulations for first receivers has expanded to include hazardous substances such as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) material. Due to the unique requirements of nuclear material, the Missouri Association of Hospitals (MAH) only requires hospitals to have decontamination systems for chemical, biological, and radiological material. The objective of decontamination is to remove all hazardous materials from the affected person to minimize patient exposure and limit the spread of contaminants. The current system for mass casualty decontamination at Barnes Jewish Emergency Department consists of an apparatus constructed from PVC pipes with 0.25” holes drilled into the pipes. Because the device cannot effectively deliver adequate volumes of water, the hospital has stopped running training programs. Instead, the Barnes Jewish Emergency Department has several indoor showers for patient decontamination. However, a single shower head can only effectively remove contaminants from a limited area of the body at a time. Thus, the use of these showers might delay care as the current protocol is to shower contaminated patients for 20 to 30 minutes to ensure adequate flushing of affected areas. Other market solutions available are either cheap and ineffective or expensive and too large for the size of the Barnes Jewish ambulance bay. 

Need Statement

A way to quickly and efficiently remove chemical and biological material from victims of a mass casualty event to achieve safe levels of contamination.

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