Emerson Hospital Conducts Successful Mass Decontamination Unit Exercise

Emerson Hospital is dedicated to protecting and healing the most vulnerable members of the community. As part of that commitment, Emerson partnered with the Concord Fire Department to conduct its annual Mass Decontamination Unit exercise on June 26, with the first-time participation of the State of Massachusetts Animal Response Team (SMART). In addition, traffic control was provided by the Concord Police Department.

The premise of the exercise was a mock hazardous material incident during a school assembly, at which pepper spray supposedly caused eye and skin irritation, difficulty breathing, coughing, heat exhaustion and minor burns to 20 faculty members and students, two of whom had service dogs who were also affected. As scripted, the role players and animals all reported to the Mass Decontamination Unit which the Concord Fire Department had set up adjacent to the parking garage at Emerson’s main campus.

At the Mass Decontamination Unit, the human “victims” were cleaned in a hot wash. The dogs went through the human unit, and then through a separate animal unit with special attention paid to the pads of their feet through which chemicals may be absorbed. At no time were people or animals exposed to any actual chemicals or other substances.

According to Jekaterina Porter, director of Environmental Health and Safety at Emerson, the hospital included the dogs in this year’s drill because of the likelihood that residents would report to the hospital with their pets and service animals in case of a real incident. Decontamination would be necessary for the health of both humans and animals, and to prevent them from contaminating others.

Laura LeVan, team leader of SMART, said the drill was conducted with dogs, but the actual decontamination process applies to all animals – although treatment may be altered for different species. “Whatever someone would do for themselves,” she said, “they should do for their pet or service animal.”

Jay Redmond, lieutenant of the Concord Fire Department, said he was pleased with the cooperation of all the groups involved. “Communication is critical,” he said. “This was a good exercise for all parties to evaluate policy, procedures, responses and resources.”

In addition, Porter said the exercise enabled all levels of Emerson staff to practice and reassess emergency response procedures, emergency notifications and ongoing communications with the onsite Incident Command Post. Following the exercise, all participants gathered in a conference room to evaluate overall performance and identify potential improvements. To date, Emerson’s only real hazardous material scare involved an incident in which a resident mistook road salt for a dangerous substance in November 2012.

“It’s important that we are proactive and prepared,” Porter said, “and it is our responsibility to identify potential hazards and practice our response together with community partners.”

Emerson Hospital is a multi-site health system headquartered in Concord, Mass., with additional facilities in Sudbury, Groton and Westford. The 179-bed hospital provides advanced medical services to more than 300,000 individuals in 25 towns. To learn more, visit www.emersonhospital.org.