Clinical review: Tokyo – protecting the health care worker during a chemical mass casualty event: an important issue of continuing relevance

Determine the effectiveness of decontamination, and perform thorough dry or wet decontamination, depending on the circumstances. Always remain cognizant of the fact that, even after decontamination has been completed, contamination may not have been completely eliminated. Perform periodic monitoring to determine whether secondary exposure has occurred in health care workers; if it appears that secondary exposure has occurred, then the PPE level must be increased and attempts must be made to identify and eliminate the source of the contamination. Finally, if the victims were exposed through ingestion, then consider the possibility that secondary exposure will occur during gastric lavage.