Recommendations to strengthen the ability for Swedish healthcare to handle incidentsinvolvin CBRN
Publish date: 2024-02-01
Report number: FOI-R--5585--SE
Pages: 63
Written in: Swedish
Keywords:
- Training
- exercises
- personal protection equipment
- PPE
- decontamination
- CBRN
- healthcare
Abstract
FOI has supported the National Board of Health and Welfare with recommendations to strengthen the ability of the healthcare system to handle CBRN-related incidents. FOI provides recommendations regarding training, excersises, personal protective equipment, specific decontamination substances and handling of contaminated deceased humans. FOI proposes training objectives and a CBRN training system in four levels: a short basic course for all healthcare workers, a theoretical and practical course for emergency medical personnel, an advanced course for personnel with special tasks and a course for instructors managing the level 2 education for healthcare personnel. Training of healthcare workers should also include CBRN excercises in which parts of or the whole medical chain is practised. Excercises should be held regularly for paramedics and units in emergency medicine, and occasionally exercises should be performed together with other first responders in the total defence. Personal protective equipment is a necessity for handeling an incident involving hazardous substances safely. In this report, different types of respiratory protection and body protection are recommended for pre-hospital units, decontamination intra-hospital units and for municipal care. In addition, an escape hood is recommended for other personnel who may interact with contaminated persons. Other recommendations include specific decontamination equipment for toxic industrial chemicals and chemical warfare agents, detection instruments for measurements of radioactivity in the thyroid and analytical capabilities for cholinesterase activity. Special considerations for handling C-, B-, and RNcontaminated decedents are also underlined.