HAZARDOUS MATERIALS ACCIDENTS - INITIAL SCENE ASSESSMENT AND PATIENT-CARE

Hazardous materials, i.e., chemicals that are toxic, corrosive, flamma ble, or explosive, are a ubiquitous aspect of modern life. They are ma nufactured throughout the United States, shipped by truck, train, barg e, and pipeline, and stored at a wide variety of locations, including factories, military bases, and warehouses. Accidents involving hazardo us materials present an added dimension of danger to emergency personn el arriving first at the scene, and have the potential to produce chem ically contaminated patients who require special medical treatment. Pe rsonnel arriving first at the scene must understand how to evaluate th e scene for fast and safe mitigation without endangering themselves. C hemically contaminated patients require prompt treatment, which, for o ptimal outcome, must begin at the scene. Although frequently the ident ification of the hazardous materials involved is not known initially, emergency personnel may safely provide medical care to the victims by understanding and following the principles of hazardous materials acci dents and the pathophysiology of chemical injuries as presented in thi s paper.