Essex Ambulance Service is working in partnership with Broomfield Hospital to ensure staff in the A&E department are fully up-to-date with their decontamination training.
In total, 60 staff are completing the one-day course, over a period of several weeks, which looks at how to deal with decontaminating patients who turn up at hospital after a chemical, biological, radioactive or nuclear incident.
The course looks at issues including the use and understanding of the NHS specified PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) and the putting up and use of the NHS decontamination shell units.
Course director Mandy Brokenshow, the ambulance service's emergency planning manager, said: "Staff in A&E need to know how to deal with casualties who might have been contaminated in an industrial accident.
"Equally, the training means they are ready should a terrorist attack mean the hospital is dealing with mass casualties."
Published Thursday August 5, 2004
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