Preparing for a chemical disaster

A simulation of a very serious situation took place at Southeast Community College Wednesday.

Dozens of victims contaminated by chemical pesticide, challenging first responders and medical professionals to treat them quickly and thoroughly.

"The number one thing is safety for ourselves and for the facility,” Dave Sambongi, a pre-hospital liaison nurse at Kaweah Medical Center in Visalia, California said. “And so if we miss a step it could have severe consequences for whoever suits up decontaminating somebody."

The mock training put on by the Center for Preparedness Education is designed to help hospitals prepare for chemical disasters..

With the right materials — personal protection equipment, a decontamination tent and plenty of running water — the 30 trainees learn to work against the clock to cleanse the contaminated.

"We have chemical agents in a lot of things we do,” Elayne Saejung, assistant director for the center said. “Whether it be pool chemicals or if we are talking about pesticides."

The simulation is treated like a true disaster: dummies and real–life victims — played by s–c–c nursing students — are doused in pesticide, represented by chocolate and strawberry syrup.

The victims enter the “hot zone,” where they strip down, put their belongings in a red contamination bag and head to the decontamination tent. There, they’re scrubbed down with warm soapy water. Once clean, they enter the cold zone, receive a robe and are checked out by another medical professional.

“This could be a very real event that happens anywhere in the nation,” Jay Schmitz, a nursing student with SCC, said. “We have to be prepared for it not only as medical providers but hopefully the community can learn some things too by these sort of exercises.”

The exercise was part of a 2.5 day seminar, which wraps up Thursday.