Video: Decontamination of Children (27:24)

• Decontamination of Children (HHS/AHRQ): about this video
  • Provides a step-by-step decontamination demonstration in real time, and trains clinicians about the nuances of treating infants and children, who require special attention during decontamination.
    • For example, children may be frightened not only by the emergency situation itself, but also by the decontamination process as well.
    • Decontamination of children also takes longer than decontamination of adults.
  • Describes chemical decontamination of children; many aspects of radiation decontamination are similar.
  • Explains why it is very important for health care institutions to establish a pediatric-specific decontamination plan and train to implement it.
  • Some of the important differences between chemical decontamination (shown in the video) and radiation decontamination (not shown in the video) include:
    • Responders may use different personal protective equipment for radiation than that used for chemical decontamination.
    • After some chemical events, bleach and alcohol may be used for skin decontamination; soap and water during showering are used for radiation decontamination.
    • Rigorous skin rubbing is used for chemical decontamination; rigorous rubbing is NOT appropriate for external radiation decontamination of skin because abrasions can allow radiation to be absorbed through skin.
    • Although the video mentions at least 5 minutes/child for one cycle of chemical decontamination, showering techniques used for radiation decontamination may require less than 5 minutes per child per cycle.
    • Capturing contaminated waste water in a large mass casualty radiation incident may not be possible.
• Source of this video
  • The staff at Children's Hospital Boston and Michael and Shannon, M.D., M.P.H., formerly Chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine of Children's Hospital Boston, are featured in the video.
  • This video was originally produced in 2005 with funding from HHS/AHRQ.
  • The AHRQ page describing the original video
  • This video is now also hosted on the REMM web site YouTube channel.